Learning to Love
by raestorm
Summary: AU: After having a baby in high school, Callie wasn't expecting the extraordinary type of experiences her peers yearned for. However, the bubbly, family-oriented, charismatic blonde in her homeroom had soon provided her with a whole new set of expectations. Despite stress, frustration, and exhaustion, Callie was quickly learning that there was more than just one way to love.
1. Coffee and Pineapples

**AN: Hi! I'm definitely still consistently working on Time of Your Life, but this idea has been floating around in my head and it feels good to write something less emotionally striking. This is also AU, but a totally different concept. I own nothing but my own characters and ideas. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Good morning, favorite teen mom ever!"

Slamming her locker shut, Callie glared at her girlfriend. "Fuck off."

Cringing playfully, Arizona made a dramatic move of showcasing the Starbucks cup that was previously hidden behind her back. "Ta da!" she exclaimed, eyes twinkling as Callie practically ripped the cup from her hand and sucked it dry in two seconds flat. "Well jeez. Rough night?"

Nodding, the brunette kissed her girlfriend in gratitude. "Rough morning, too. I dropped her off just in time to make it here before all the parking spots were taken."

"Ohhhh so that kind of Thursday, huh?" Arizona smiled gently at the other teen, pulling her against her side as they walked down the hallway to homeroom. Eventually reaching room 211, Arizona placed a guiding hand on Callie's back and let her walk in first. Once they were sitting comfortably with their planners and pens unpacked onto their desks, the blonde turned around. "How about I get her after soccer? That way you can go home, shower, and take a few relaxing minutes. I'll meet you at your house around 5?"

Immediately disagreeing, Callie felt the exhaustion hit her head on. "I refuse to be one of those mothers who lets her kid stay in daycare for longer than need be because I'm too lazy to go pick her up."

"Calliope," Arizona began reassuringly, "sometimes we all need breaks."

"She's not going to be stuck in daycare from 6:30 in the morning until 4:30 this afternoon. It's too much for any toddler."

Shrugging, Arizona raised an eyebrow. "Okay, fine, so I'll go straight from school and pick her up. I haven't missed a soccer practice yet and you need a break."

Before Callie could protest, the bell rang, followed immediately by morning announcements. Knowing they would both get chewed out for talking, landing in detention and subsequently making both of their arguments invalid since then neither could pick her daughter up until 4:30, the brunette dropped her head into her hands. A five-minute snooze was all she needed to get through first period history, second period math, and third period gym.

Fifteen minutes later, both the bell and Arizona's gentle fingernails startled Callie awake. Looking up into the concerned face of her girlfriend, Callie sighed and quickly threw her belongings into her purse. "I'm fine," she promised, already standing up.

"Maybe you should take the day off. No one would blame you, Cal. You can't even keep your eyes open."

"Calc test second period."

Rolling her eyes as her girlfriend walked ahead of her out of the room, Arizona followed. She loved both Callie and her daughter, Mila, more than words could describe, but even she was exhausted the large majority of the time. How her girlfriend did it was beyond her.

* * *

Arizona ran down the field past numerous team members playing defense. She dribbled the ball from foot to foot effortlessly. Her best friend and team member, Teddy, ran next to her, prepared to block anyone coming Arizona's way. Throwing the girls making up the other practice team off, Arizona punted the ball in the air, bumped it off her head, and kicked it toward the goal as it came down. The ball went straight past the goalie and hit the back of the net. Throwing a triumphant fist in the air, Arizona turned and high-fived an approaching Teddy.

"That was your best goal yet!"

"I've been working on that one for ages," replied Arizona as she wiped sweat from her forehead and walked over to the benches for water.

As she walked over, their coach, Owen Hunt, gave Arizona a pat on the back. "That's the way to do it, Robbins!"

Teddy and Arizona gathered their things and made their way to the locker rooms. "So what are you doing after practice? Want to go get something to eat?"

"Sorry, Teds, I can't. I'm lucky I'm even at soccer today. I'm going over to Callie's to hang out with Mila so she can have some time to relax."

"I don't know how you do it. A junior soccer star, a lesbian, and you have a girlfriend with a kid. Almost seems fake."

"I cannot explain my attraction to Calliope Torres. I just can't." Winking, Arizona made kissy faces at her best friend.

As the girls finished cleaning themselves up, Leah, one of their team members came into the locker room. "Hey, Arizona! You looked great out there today. Loved that last shot you made," the girl praised as she smiled and began blushing.

"Thanks, Leah. Well...Teddy and I have to go. Have a good one."

Arizona quickly pulled her best friend behind her as they walked towards their cars. "I can't believe you had a fling with her," Teddy laughed.

"Shut up. I had very few options."

"Whatever you say, Robbins. Whatever you say."

* * *

"Hi, Arizona!" Janae enthusiastically greeted when the blonde opened the gate to the toddler room at the local daycare center. "Mila, look who's here!"

A stunning little brunette with bouncy waves stopped pounding the toy piano and looked toward her teacher. Janae pointed to Arizona, who gave a big smile and wave. A squeal sounded from the one and a half year old.

Laughing, Arizona knelt down and opened her arms for her girlfriend's daughter. "Hi, Mila girl!" As the toddler launched herself into Arizona's chest, the blonde stood up and hugged her close. "How was your day, baby girl?" Chattering a string of both sensible and non-sensible words, Mila began telling Arizona everything she could remember from the day. Picking up on a few words here and there, like fruit and blue and Mama, Arizona stored them away for car ride conversation.

"Here's her daily sheet," Janae offered. "She had a wonderful day like always. Still working on using our fork or spoon at lunch, but we're getting there! She got a little dirty playing outside so I changed her pants. The other pair is in her cubby. Please let Callie know she needs another set, now."

"Of course. Thank you! Say bye bye to Miss. Nae, Mi," Arizona instructed, grinning when the little girl in her arms smiled and waved goodbye.

* * *

"Honey, we're hoooooooome," Arizona called as she entered Callie's house through the backdoor, like she usually did. Mila, wide awake after a brief nap during the car ride over, giggled loudly and called for her Mama.

"Hey!" Callie greeted, walking into the room looking ten times more refreshed and less stressed. "Hi, Mi!" Taking her daughter into her arms, Callie gave her girlfriend an appreciative kiss. "Thank you so much for grabbing her. I know I fight you sometimes, but I just want you to have a normal high school experience. You're really stubborn, ya know? Anyways, you two hungry?"

"Starved," Arizona answered, shedding her shoes and falling into one of the kitchen chairs. "And for the record, I want an extraordinary high school experience and loving you and Mila is helping me get it. Ugh, Cal, I'm so sore from practice, but guess what?"

"Hm?" Callie responded, grabbing a container of freshly cut fruit out of the refrigerator. "Water okay?"

"Yes, water's fine. I scored that goal I was telling you about this weekend!"

Placing the snack onto the table, Callie got comfortable in the seat across from Arizona, letting Mila kneel in her lap and make a grab for a piece of watermelon. Eyes lighting up at the news, she high-fived the blonde across from her. "Great job, Zo! I promise we're coming to your game next week. Aria and CJ said they're down, too. You're a superstar."

"You're the superstar." Smiling at Mila, Arizona offered her a piece of pineapple, laughing along with Callie when her face scrunched up as the sour juice assaulted her newly developing taste buds. "So where is everyone?"

Finishing chewing the rest of Mila's pineapple piece, Callie shrugged. "Aria is at her friend's and CJ went out with the guys after practice. My dad is still at work and I'm not sure where my mom is, but I doubt she'll be back anytime soon at this rate." Wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, Callie tried not to laugh at her girlfriend's response.

The bright red blush that covered Arizona's cheeks slowly began to dissipate. "I guess you are much more energized than this morning."

"Please. While I am very appreciative of the time for some much needed R&amp;R, I don't need much to be in the mood for _that_," Callie teased, getting up to clear the table and motioning for Arizona to follow her into the family room.

* * *

"Bye," Arizona whispered hours later, leaning up to kiss Callie goodnight. "Per usual, I had a wonderfully domestic time."

Chuckling while she rolled her eyes, Callie kissed her again. "Per usual, I still don't get how this is how you choose to spend the majority of your free evenings. But I love you for it. Mila does, too."

"Mmm and I love me my Mila girl. Give her a good morning kiss for me, please?"

Immediately nodding and feeling her chest tighten with warmth, Callie gently nudged Arizona off her stoop. "Get in your car before you miss curfew."

"See you bright and early?"

"As long as you shower before coming to find me."

Arizona watched Callie's nose scrunch up in mock disgust. The blonde had morning workouts for soccer every other day before school. Although she was usually pretty efficient and organized, before dating Callie, Arizona never remembered showering and changing as quickly as she did now. Her teammates were barely rinsing off by the time she was flying out of the locker room in search of the brunette.

"Maybe I'll even use that body wash you like." Winking, Arizona began walking backwards to her car. "Love you!" she called, before turning, unlocking her door, and slipping inside.

Callie stood in place, watching the blue Jeep's headlights flicker on, illuminating her front lawn. With a final wave and a beep of the horn, her girlfriend pulled out of the long, circular driveway, turning left to exit, and laying on the gas pedal in order to get home within ten minutes. Sighing in contentment, Callie reentered her home, locking up behind her and slowly making her way up the stairs. She would never understand why Arizona fell into her life and how she could be so invested into both her and her daughter, but the blonde made her feel on top of the world and she wasn't going to give that up just because she had a baby.

After saying a quick goodnight to her parents, she quietly got ready for bed, replied to Arizona's _'got home with one min to spare! Sweet dreams, Calliope xo' _text, and settled into bed, turning on her side to stare into her daughter's crib. Closing her eyes in relief, she was just starting to think she would finally get a solid night's rest when the backdoor slammed open and the telltale signs of her idiot younger sister came stomping up the steps. Before she could even stick her head out to plead with her sister and father to keep their voices down for Mila, the two were screaming at the top of their lungs about curfews, underage drinking, and a second teen pregnancy in the family if Aria didn't get her crap together. Immediately following, Mila's eyes shot open in fright and the toddler began wailing.

Groaning, Callie pulled her body up and snuggled her daughter, whispering soothing words in her ear. How her high school girlfriend was the most soothing factor in her life right now, she didn't know, but nonetheless, Callie quickly grabbed Mila's diaper bag, her phone, and her car keys and made her way outside. "Guess we're sleeping at Zo's tonight, Mi," she whispered, settling her daughter into her car seat, sending a quick text to her parents, not really caring about their reaction, and starting her car.

Using her Bluetooth at the next stoplight, Callie smiled when after a few rings, Arizona picked up her phone. "Door's open," the blonde promised. "See you in fifteen."


	2. I'll Love you (Anyways)

**AN: Hi, everyone! I am glad you are all enjoying this fic. Just to clear a few things up/answer some questions:**

**\- There will definitely be flashbacks and/or parts explaining back stories and history.**

**\- Ratings may change later, but I'm not sure. I'm writing this in terms of their ages and although I have no problem with M high school things, for right now, the next few chapters will remain T. **

**\- Calzonafan123: That was the original plan and eventually it'll be mentioned, but for right now, think of it as a compromise, mostly on Callie's part. She doesn't want Arizona changing anything about her life to take care of Mila (although, let's be real that's not flying with Arizona).**

**\- Kyoshiob69 - She was with Leah before Callie, no worries!**

**If anyone has any other questions, comments, wants to know more "back story" stuff that is beyond what would be in a fic, feel free to leave it in the comments here or submit an ask on tumblr (buildyourownarchitecture)! Enjoy :)**

* * *

Eyes shooting open in dread the next morning, Callie had a gut feeling it was way past 5:00 am, when Mila and her normally woke up and began their day. Her suspicions were confirmed after a quick glance at Arizona's alarm clock. Flying out of bed, she was halfway out of her pajamas when her second realization of the morning hit her. The clock read 6:20 and Arizona's room was silent. Noticing that the pack and play in the corner was empty, panic filled Callie's lungs before she reminded herself whose house she was in.

A knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts. "Come in," she called, distractedly and watched Barbara Robbins stick her head into the room.

"Good morning, Callie! I was just coming to check on you. Arizona said you showered last night after you got here and as long as you were up by 6:30, you'd be able to make it to school in time for homeroom."

"But-"

"Don't worry. She had a plan before she turned your alarm off. Daniel's home today so he can keep Mila. Breakfast is in the kitchen, if you're up for it." Slipping back out of the room to let Callie get ready, Barbara made her way to her own bedroom to change for work.

Without having had a chance to argue with her girlfriend or her girlfriend's mother, Callie realized Arizona probably set it all up this way on purpose. On any other terms, the brunette would have fought tooth and nail so that Daniel didn't "waste his day babysitting" and the Robbins wouldn't put extra effort into tackling her own responsibilities this morning. Smiling, she allowed herself a few moments to get dressed, brush her teeth, wash her face, and fix her hair. Sending a quick thank you text to her girlfriend, Callie swiped eyeliner and mascara on her face, and was downstairs with time to spare. Thankful that her girlfriend's house was in walking distance to their high school, Callie made her way into the kitchen and smiled at the sight before her. Daniel, sitting at the table, nursing a cup of coffee and singing nursery rhymes, had a giggling Mila on his lap.

"Good morning," she greeted, making a quick plate of eggs and Arizona's asinine vegetarian sausages, before sitting down across from Daniel and wiggling her fingers in a wave. "Hey, Mi!"

"Mama!" Reaching out, the one-year-old grasped frantically until Callie leaned over and plucked her across the table.

"Hi, baby. You having fun with your buddy?"

Her daughter's babbling began and Callie, trying her hardest to pay attention, dug into her breakfast while shooting Daniel an appreciative look. The man stood up from the table, taking his mug with him. "You two finish your good morning chat while I run up and change. Just yell when you've gotta head out."

Callie grabbed his wrist as he was walking past her. "Thank you," she whispered, looking up at Arizona's clone and willing herself not to cry. "Thank you for everything."

* * *

"Hey, sneak," Callie whispered, slipping into homeroom and poking Arizona in the hip from behind. The blonde was talking to one of the girls on her team, but quickly wrapped up the conversation.

"Cutting it close, hm?" Arizona teased after a glance at the clock hanging above their teacher's desk.

"Well, if someone's parents weren't such amazing chefs, I wouldn't have devoured food up until five minutes before school started."

Laughing, Arizona winked. "Did you eat my veggauges?"

"Your _what?_" Callie probed, pulling Arizona over to their seats by her elbow. Just because she got to school with seconds to spare didn't mean she wanted to be out of her seat and flirting with her girlfriend when Mrs. Vitale walked into the room.

Snorting, Arizona slid into her own seat and immediately twisted her body backwards. "My veggie sausages!"

"Oh my god. Turn around."

The bell killed Arizona's argument and with a quick smack of their lips, which Callie immediately swatted away at, the blonde flipped and crossed her legs, transforming into the picture perfect student. Rolling her eyes and giving the chair in front of her a swift kick when Mrs. Vitale turned her back, Callie grinned when her girlfriend's body went flying forward. The blonde quickly masked her laughter with a fake coughing fit, leading to their teacher and a few unobservant students asking her if she was okay.

"Fine, fine," Arizona promised, taking a sip of water from the bottle Callie's outstretched hand was offering. "Just choked on my own breath or something."

When all eyes were off the pair, Arizona obnoxiously slid down in her seat and rested her head against the chair back, letting her still wet hair fall onto Callie's planner. Feeling the other girl swipe it away, Arizona giggled silently.

"Stop. You win," Callie hissed, playful tone to her voice. Arizona shot back up and righted her posture and the brunette could just imagine the smirk on her girlfriend's face. Making a note to get back at her later, she tried to tune into the morning's announcements.

* * *

Sliding a soft pretzel and a cup of cheese sauce across the lunch table, Callie chuckled at her girlfriend's pleased face. She continued to laugh as Arizona immediately dug into the food. "Happy?" she asked, stealing a piece.

"Ecstatic! Thank you!"

"Mhm." Leaning a hand over, she let her pointer finger swipe cheese from the side of Arizona's lip, licking it off and then linking their hands. "I figured I owed you after this morning. Thank you, again. I don't say that enough."

Waving her free hand at Callie in dismissal, the blonde continued eating. "That's because you don't have to. But I thought you were mad at me."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about your stunt in homeroom today."

Giggling, Arizona shook her head. "Whatever are you talking about?" Knowing Callie too well, the other girl quickly crossed her legs onto her seat to avoid the kick the brunette sent her way. "Stop kicking me!" she laughed loudly. "Where are you learning that? Mila?"

"Uh, Mi learned it from me, grasshopper."

Finishing the last bite of her pretzel, she waited for Callie to pack up the now empty container of her what was once chicken salad. With a quick glance to her watch, she stood up and outstretched her hand. "Care to join me for a 30 minute nap a la lip to lip in the back of my car?"

"You are truly an idiot." Standing up and throwing her trash away, Callie lifted her bag to her shoulder and linked hands with Arizona. "But I'll never turn down that kind of offer."

* * *

"Are you _joking!_"

Callie visibly cringed at her girlfriend's statement. They were sitting in their advanced child development class discussing a classmate's presentation on gender dysphoria, and one of their peers had just royally pissed her girlfriend off, big time.

"You _must _be joking."

Cringing again, Callie knew this was going to get ugly.

"Um no, I'm not joking, _Arizona_," Jen replied, turning to face the blonde sitting a few rows away from her. "I think it's insulting how rude you can be. This is a debate. You aren't always right."

"I never said I was always right, but I'm right about this."

"Ladies, I'm not going to tell you you can't explore your differing opinions, but I expect it to be done in an appropriate, respectful way," their teacher intervened, giving both girls a look that meant business.

"Well! In that case," Arizona began, flipping her hair over her shoulder and staring directly at Jen. "I respectfully think you're being ridiculous."

"Boys are boys and girls are girls, Arizona. There's literally no argument."

Murmurs began to circulate around the classroom, which were quickly hushed by their teacher.

"Exactly! Boys are boys and girls are girls and it doesn't matter what reproductive organs they're born with if their hearts and heads are telling them something different."

Jen rolled her eyes. "God wouldn't make them that gender if they weren't supposed to be that gender."

Closing her eyes for a moment to compose herself, Arizona sucked in a breath. "Jen, I completely respect whatever faith you believe in, but if you're going to use religion as an argument, back it up. I don't believe in God, but I'm pretty sure he's supposed to love everyone."

"He doesn't love you." Turning to the friend that shared her desk, Jen snorted. "He condemns gays."

Callie's heart jumped up to her throat. Arizona may act tougher than nails, but she knew her girlfriend well enough to know she was feeling emotionally overwhelmed.

"Especially gays who help unwed teen moms," Jen whispered, loudly enough for the class to hear.

Hand shooting up, Arizona spoke without waiting for their teacher to call on her or deal with the situation. "Mr. Spokas, I need to be excused."

"So mature to run away from your problems," Jen added. "I thought you could discuss this in a mature and respectful way."

Already packing up her things and sending Callie a look that conveyed a million different things at once, Arizona halted her motions and turned. "I'm not running away from the conversation. I'm leaving the room so my fist doesn't break your fake nose. You should be grateful."

A sweep of blonde hair and tye-dyed book bag later and Callie finally registered what just happened.

* * *

An hour and a half later, Callie was pulling into the Robbins' driveway to pick Mila up. She had no idea where Arizona had gone when she left class and she wasn't sure if she should give the girl space or go find her. Opting to finish the debate her girlfriend started (meanwhile relishing in Jen's week-long before and after school detention) and attend Writing, her last class of the day, she was relieved to finally be picking up her daughter, knowing Mila always grounded her and reminded her of what truly mattered.

What she wasn't expecting was to walk into the house and find her girlfriend and baby wrapped up together on a beanbag on the living room floor. Red rimmed eyes met her own and Callie's heart sunk. Maybe she should have went off in search of Arizona.

"Was Mr. Clayton upset?"

Placing her belongings down and gently joining a quiet Arizona and sleeping Mila on the floor, Callie shook her head. "No. I think Mr. Spokas wrote a note for you and I told him you had to leave early. Got your work for you. Also made sure Jen fully regretted her statements and I possibly ripped her a new asshole in the hallway after the dismissal bell rang while she was crying about having detention all next week."

Grinning, Arizona kissed her. "I don't think God hates you."

Kissing her back, Callie sighed. "I don't know about her God, but my God doesn't hate me. And if he or she does, they'll have to deal because I'm not going to stop loving you or Mila anytime soon."

"He or she, again."

"Huh?"

"You said they'll. But you said he or she the first time. Inconsistent," Arizona explained, placing butterfly kisses against Mila's forehead after she finished.

"Wow – you are _such_ a loser," Callie teased. Sobering, she laid her head down. "I do love you. So, so much."

"I love you, too, Cal, sins and all!"

* * *

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	3. Scrimages and Wine

**Thanks for the feedback! For those of you who read TTOYL, there is an update coming tonight so GET EXCITED :) (although it's a bit depressing but also sweet - why am I like this?!...but really, we are getting very far into TTOYL and I think we all know what happens eventually). If anyone has questions or comments or just wants to talk about either fic, feel free to come over to my tumblr (buildyourownarchitecture) and ask away!**

* * *

"Callie, Callie, Callie!"

Spinning around at the sound of her girlfriend chorusing her name, a grin immediately spread across her face. While a still half asleep Arizona, full of mussed hair, sleepy eyes, and a raspy voice, was her number one favorite, a sweaty, soccer uniform clad, increasingly tanned Arizona was a close runner up. "Arizona, Arizona, Arizona!" she teased, shifting Mila completely to her left side to free up her right for the fast approaching blonde.

Once she was close enough, Arizona's arms clutched around Callie's neck, a few gentle fingers coming to brush against Mila's cheek in the process. "Hi!" she greeted, kissing Callie full on the mouth before turning to rub noses with Mila. "Hey, baby." Arizona kissed Callie once more, swiping Mila into her own arms in the process, to which the one-year-old giggled and clapped her hands.

"Someone's happy to see you," Callie remarked, thankful for the opportunity to shift Mila's diaper bag further up her shoulder and stretch her arms outward. "Missed your Zozo, huh, Mi?"

Mila, head now comfortably resting against Arizona's shoulder, grinned at her mom. "Guess that's an outstanding yes, hm?" Arizona teased, tickling the baby's tummy and smacking a few kisses against her cheeks. "Mm, I love you," she whispered, causing Callie to feel like she was melting into a pile of blissful goop. "Thank you for coming," Arizona relayed, her attention now on her girlfriend. "And for dressing the part," she added after realizing Callie was decked out in a Robbins jersey tank, complete with red shorts and navy sandals.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, goof," Callie promised, enjoying the sight of her daughter in Arizona's arms, despite the ever present slight heaviness in her heart and head about how this could be screwing up any chance Arizona had at a normal high school experience.

"It's just a scrimmage!"

"It's also important to you. We'll also be at your game this week."

When the blonde nearly blinded Callie with a smile, the heaviness significantly lessened. No one could be that happy if they weren't satisfied with all aspects of life. Then again, Callie frequently had fleeting thoughts about Arizona being the literal sun, so, who knew.

"Anyway, as much as I would love to spin around the field with my baby, I'm gonna have to pass her back off so I can finish running warm-ups with the team. Remember, I'm on blue, because you know, I'm wearing blue," Arizona added, unnecessarily, before plopping kisses on both Torres' foreheads, handing Mila over, and sprinting off to the middle of the field, fist bumping Teddy when she got there.

Callie didn't even have time to process that Arizona had called Mila hers before the blonde was already sprinting toward the ball, yelling for everyone to get their energy up.

* * *

Freshly showered, Arizona was swiping mascara on her lashes when Teddy sidled up behind her, gently pulling her own comb through Arizona's blonde locks. "If you play like that, we are definitely winning state again this year."

Smiling at her best friend through the mirror in front of them, Arizona capped her makeup and tossed it back into the soccer ball covered pouch on the counter in front of her. "Thanks, Teds." Allowing the girl to continue brushing her hair, Arizona had to remind herself at least every ten seconds to _relax_, that Callie and Mila (and her family) wouldn't leave just because she took a whole three extra minutes to get changed and ready. Noticing almost all her other teammates just now emerging from the showers, Arizona self-consciously lifted her arm and sniffed.

"What the hell?" Teddy snorted, finishing untangling. "Would you like to borrow my deodorant?"

Glaring, Arizona flipped her head back and forth a few times before plopping down on the bench behind her and holding out a bright blue ponytail holder for Teddy to take. "I just realized that I showered in like, a minute and a half, and wanted to makes sure I actually got the sweat stench off. Braid, please?"

Taking the offered ponytail holder and separating Arizona's hair to begin a French braid, she wasn't surprised when the blonde shifted to the side and motioned for Teddy to make the braid diagonally so it fell to the right side of her head. "You do realize you shower in less time than that on a daily basis? Callie already knows you smell and doesn't give a rat's ass."

"Gee, thanks."

Teddy chuckled. "I'm kidding. I think it's endearing that you rush to go see your girl. You know I think you two are sweet. Plus, your daughter's probably wandering where you went."

Waiting for Teddy to finish tying off her braid, Arizona flipped around, eyes wide. "Theodora!"

"What?" Teddy deadpanned, moving to pull her own wet hair off her neck and into a messy bun. "You're the one who keeps referring to Mila as your baby or your munchkin and if I wasn't your best friend, _god, Arizona_, I'd punch you in the face for how much you talk about the kid. Mila this, Mila that. She's cute and I love her, and Callie, but you'd think you popped her out yourself."

Jaw dropping, Arizona narrowed her eyes. "I do not refer to her as mine!"

"Yeah, you do."

"I do not! I'll give, I do talk about her all the time, but who wouldn't? You said so yourself, she's so cute."

Teddy shrugged and picked up her bag, waiting for Arizona to do the same. "I'm not saying you shouldn't talk about her, Zo. Callie and Mila clearly make you happy and I am so happy you're happy. You're my best friend and I'll never find someone like you again, so please don't take this the wrong way, okay? I'm just teasing. Mila stories are fun for me, too. Now, say goodbye to the team so we can go to lunch."

Arizona quickly made rounds inside the locker room, congratulating her peers who played blue with her, and won, of course, and complimenting the red girls for a tough match. "See you guys Monday morning, bright and early!" she sing-songed, moving back to Teddy and linking arms with the taller girl. "Do I really refer to Mila as my baby?" she whispered, eyes widening at Teddy's very serious and affirmative yes.

Twenty minutes later, with Mila happily chewing on her pinky finger, as her parents, Teddy, Callie, and herself all sat around their favorite lunch spot, Arizona realized she had already given two waitresses, the hostess, and the couple sitting next to them the impression that Mila was hers. Pulling her finger out of the toddler's mouth, she wiped the spit on her shirt, must to Callie's dismay (Arizona simply smirked at her girlfriend's eye roll and napkin offering), and reached into the diaper bag set next to her feet for a teething ring. Blindly finding the pink and blue toy she knew was in the bag, she handed it off to the ever-curious child on her lap and settled her a bit more comfortably against her stomach and chest. Rubbing her own fingers up and down Mila's arm, soothingly, Arizona grabbed for her phone with her free hand and confirmed that it was about time for the toddler's early afternoon nap.

Taking a quick look around, she noticed her parents and Teddy discussing the team's upcoming schedule, so she allowed herself to unlock her cell and pull up Callie's (well, 'callMiNEope' with a few emojis) text stream. She typed out a one-thumbed '**i need to ask you something'** and set her phone back down.

Callie had been watching her girlfriend, which wasn't uncharacteristic of her, especially when Mila and Arizona were in the same spot, and immediately picked up her phone, before it even had a chance to vibrate, recognizing the look on Arizona's face. Worrying somewhat, because Arizona was gnawing on her bottom lip like she was starving and the only thing in sight to eat was her own mouth, she slid the iMessage open. Quirking a brow, she glanced up, made brief eye contact with the pretty, worrying blonde across from her, and sent back a **'yes?'**.

'**youd tell me if i ever did something that you didnt like right?'**

Before Callie could respond, another text came through: **'like, with mila?'**

'**yes? babe what's wrong?'**

'**nothing.'**

'**arizona robbins!'**

'**just something teddy said earlier.'**

'**which was?'**

'**nothing really.'**

'**I am five seconds away from ripping you out of this restaurant and dragging you to the parking lot if you don't tell me what's going on.'**

Arizona raised an eyebrow and couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face. A demanding Callie was a hot Callie. Choosing not to correct her girlfriend by mentioning that they were outside, on the patio, rather than actually inside the restaurant, she began typing out a response. **'okay okay relax. please dont blame teddy. she didnt mean anything by it okay?'**

'**go on.'**

'**imsorryikeepcallingmilaminewhenshesyoursandnotmine'**

'**ijustlovehersomuch…i didnt mean to do that so im sorry.'** When the second message came through, Callie had to squint to piece apart the words, internally chastising Arizona for something that was just so _like her_.

'**oh.'**

'**just oh?'**

'**no I'm sorry, not just oh. You are right. I would tell you if you did something that didn't sit well with me, especially regarding Mila, but that isn't the case, Arizona. I'll admit that I didn't even notice really until this morning before your game, but after thinking about it, I realized just how much you do call, and act, like she's yours, too. I mean, look at you two. BUT that isn't something that doesn't sit well with me because I think you're being inappropriate with my daughter. It doesn't always sit well with me because you shouldn't have a teen mom's responsibilities. Not when you have soccer and school and all those other great things going for you. However, I know you well enough to literally hear the exact response and tone of voice you'd have if we were having this conversation out loud and just because I don't always understand doesn't mean my heart doesn't beat a little bit (lot bit) faster every time you and Mila have a moment, or you do something with her, or call her baby or Mi or whatever. I love you, okay? And I love that you love me, and her. So stop worrying and join the conversation because your parents are now looking at us like they know that we are texting each other and I really don't want your mom and dad to think I'm sexting you dirty things so please.' **After sending the rather long message, Callie sat back and observed her girlfriend's facial expressions as she read through the words. On cue, at about the time Callie predicted Arizona got to the part about taking on mom responsibilities, the blonde's mouth actually opened to argue back, before slamming back shut a few seconds later, hopefully appeased by what Callie had sent.

Blushing, Arizona quickly placed her phone down and looked sheepishly to her parents, who were both smirking at her. "Sorry," she mumbled, turning her body so she wasn't directly facing Callie.

"What was so important?" Teddy teased, earning glares from both other teens.

Chuckling, Barbara playfully wiped her hand down Daniel's face to wipe off the stern Dad look he was pretending to have.

"Anyways!" Arizona interjected, before either of her parents could make the situation more awkward, "what's everyone ordering?"

* * *

"Calliope!"

Reaching over and slamming a hand against Arizona's mouth, Callie widened her eyes playfully and shushed her.

In turn, Arizona pretended to zip her lips and raised the wine glass in her hand to her mouth, taking a large gulp and pushing the now empty glass out for Callie to refill.

Callie topped off Arizona's glass, rolling her eyes. "You are lucky we aren't upstairs or you'd have just woken up my kid."

Brushing the comment off with a wave of her hand, Arizona gripped the wine glass and flopped back against the porch swing, stretching her legs out across Callie and resting her head against the cushioned back. "Well if we were in your room, I would have some self-control," she slurred out, giggling madly when she had trouble with certain syllables. "I'm really good with her, I'll have ya know!" she added, making a funny face by drawing her lips together and squinting her eyes.

"You are. You are very good with her, although, sometimes I do question your self-control," Callie teased, laughing and taking a sip of her own wine.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's supposed to mean…" Trailing off, Callie let her free hand run gently up Arizona's bare leg, fingers twisting around the knobby knee, and moving further up her inner thigh. She watched her girlfriend tighten her hold on her glass and suck in a breath. Continuing, Callie let her fingers trail all the way up Arizona's thigh, under her sleep shorts, to the very edge of her underwear.

Gulping, Arizona murmured a "Calliope" before sliding her body down even further, forcing Callie's hand to brush against her core. A small whine escaped the blonde and Callie immediately pulled her hand away, slapping the girl's thigh on retreat. "Cal!" Arizona squeaked, twisting her lower body and squirming to try to get Callie to put her hand back where it had rested milliseconds ago. "_Unfair_."

"Fair. We've talked about this."

"Yes, but people can change their minds!"

Giving her an unamused look, Callie took a sip of wine to try and cool her own body down. "You're right. They can."

Smirking in what she thought was success, Arizona wiggled her hips a bit and made a show of licking her lips while staring Callie down.

"However," Callie began and snorted at her idiot girlfriend and the huff and disgruntle that that one word earned her. "We've both been drinking, you clearly more so than me, but still. We are also at _my _parents' house and no, I will not have sex with you at your parents' house either, but it's weird to be here and not there, so second reason no. Third, this is definitely _not_ how I am going to sleep with you for the first time, especially since all you've done is make-out with and grope other girls, despite every member of our class thinking you are the goddess of lesbian sex."

"You can thank Leah for that," Arizona pointed out, leaning over and pouring herself more wine when she realized she was running low again.

"I can not. I can thank _you_ for that, you idiot."

Arizona rolled her eyes, but smirked. "Whatever. The consensus is that I'm a wonderful kisser."

"That's because you are."

"So…kiss me," Arizona prompted, making kissy faces at Callie and moving toward her.

Playfully pushing her back down, Callie shook her head. "Drink your damn wine. We've gotta be upstairs and cleaned up in an hour and with the way you're drinking, it's going to take a while to get you settled."

"Yes, milady." Dramatically lifting the glass to her lips and taking a gulp, Arizona snickered, sloppily, and Callie grinned in response.

The two were silent for minutes, minus Arizona's incessant, drunk giggling. Callie, rubbing the blonde's lower legs gently, let herself relax. It wasn't often that Arizona and Callie had time for themselves so when Mila went down rather early that evening, she quickly whipped up dinner for the two of them and cracked open a bottle of Arizona's favorite wine. Having made sure, with both Robbins parents, that it was okay for their daughter to sleep over Callie's, the brunette had found herself in the basement, in search of another bottle, knowing her own parents weren't coming home until after midnight.

Throughout the night, she had sipped at her two and a half glasses and while she had felt a bit tipsy somewhat earlier in the evening, she was rather enjoying her girlfriend's drunken shenanigans. Around ten, when Aria had come home, bitching about a bad date, Arizona had sent all three girls into a tailspin of laughter, something the Torres sisters hadn't done together in ages. An hour later, when Aria retreated to her bedroom with promises to check on Mila so Callie could take Arizona onto the back porch, Arizona had fumbled to grab the baby monitor, claiming she also wanted to check on Mila, and stared into the tiny camera, continuously blinking.

An hour later, the two were almost through their second bottle of wine and Callie was letting herself dream about what their future could be like, if things remained the way they were now. Pulled out of her thoughts by her girlfriend's shuffling, she steadied her gaze on Arizona.

"Hi," Arizona mumbled, pulling up onto her knees and sneaking her body under Callie's arm, snuggling in as close as she could. "Thank you for tonight. I know we aren't big partiers, unless, ya know, it's like Mila's first birthday or something, but I appreciate you trying to give me normal experiences, even when I don't necessarily want or need them. Tonight was fun and even though I," stopping, Arizona waved a finger in the air and Callie tightened her hold on the girl so she didn't slip off the chair. "Even though I'm entirely drunk, I really do mean the things I'm saying. I love you, Calliope, and spending my future evenings watching Mila grow up, with your arms wrapped around me, is exactly what I want and need."

Blinking away happy tears, Callie dropped a kiss onto Arizona's mouth, then nose, then forehead. "I love you, too, beautiful."

Arizona smiled cheekily and stood up, tripping over her own feet and allowing Callie to steady her, as the brunette stood up herself, gathering the empty wine bottle and both their glasses.

"You're a sap, though," she teased, pulling Arizona into the house through the sliding doors. "Try and make it up to my room while I get rid of the evidence, okay?"

"Okay! Hurry and join me!"

Turning, Callie cringed when Arizona's body slammed against the kitchen island, followed by an "I'm okay, I'm okay!". She threw a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter when her girlfriend continued struggling to make it to the steps, becoming distracted a few different times along the way. "Well," she mumbled, "glad I know I don't have to hurry since you won't even make it past the first step before I get there." Shaking her head, she quickly washed both wine glasses, placing them back into the cabinet, and tossed the bottle into their recycling, knowing her parents never looked inside. She'd deal with bribing the cleaning staff in the morning.

Trudging toward the stairs, she wasn't surprised to find Arizona, body shaking with silent giggles, curled up on the first step. "Come on, you goof," she teased, helping pull the other girl up. "Hop on," she instructed, bracing herself for a drunk Arizona to hop onto her back. Making her way to her bedroom, the heaviness she felt about Arizona and Mila continued to dissipate. In fact, Callie could barely remember feeling it at all, when the first thing Arizona did, after she was ungracefully dropped onto Callie's bed, was crawl over to check on Mila. Sighing, Callie got comfortable under her covers and waited for Arizona to join her.

* * *

_**E**__**njoy the sap while it lasts...**_


	4. Gym Class and (Not) Sexting

**Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I'm trying to outline the rest of this fic out (there's going to be a sequel, too) so I should have a better idea of how many chapters this one will be in the next few updates. Enjoy :)**

* * *

The new and silent presence next to her immediately distracted Callie, pulling her out of her conversation with her brother. "Hey," she greeted, turning to face Arizona. The smile that had overtaken her face when she had first sensed her girlfriend dropped swiftly from her face. "Arizona?"

Callie was met with shaky hands, a trembling bottom lip, and silence.

"Hey, CJ, I'll see you at lunch, okay? If Mom gets a hold of you before then just tell her that's fine, okay?" With a nod and a kiss to her forehead, CJ brushed past both girls, sliding a comforting hand across Arizona's shoulder as he walked away.

Once he was out of earshot, Callie pulled Arizona a little closer and sought out eye contact. "Hey," she mumbled, sliding a chipped, black nail polished finger under her girlfriend's chin and gently tipping her head upward. "What's wrong?"

Flustered and not trusting her voice, Arizona shook her head, damp hair hitting her cheeks with each toss back and forth.

Ignoring the tightness in her chest, Callie scooped Arizona into her arms, neglecting to realize she was reacting similarly to when Mila fell down or became frightened. "Okay, you're okay. I'm here."

The sniffles started and Callie tightened her grip, ignoring the aide that was pushing everyone along to homeroom. When she passed the pair, the woman strictly encouraged them along and Callie, not caring about being late to listen to stupid announcements that didn't ever matter, briefly pulled away from Arizona and turned to the woman. "The bell hasn't run yet."

Glancing at her watch, the middle-aged, straight-faced woman narrowed her eyes. "You have less than a full minute to get to your classrooms. Move along, please."

"Are you blind? She's clearly upset. Give us a detention, I don't really care."

The woman rolled her eyes and turned, choosing not to respond to Callie.

Appreciative, Callie turned and pulled the blonde back into her arms, comforted slightly by Arizona's bony limbs sliding up and linking around her neck. "Thank you," she mumbled.

"Mhm." Callie rubbed soothing circles on Arizona's back, noticing that the girl was trembling in her arms. The bell rang and Arizona didn't budge, not even when students began pushing past them in attempts to get to class before the sound ended.

The hallway cleared out and Arizona's hold tightened.

"Do you want to get out of here? We can go get Mi and take the day off."

Arizona finally pulled back and shook her head. "No, no. I'm okay. Thank you. I needed those few minutes."

"Anytime," Callie reminded, kissing Arizona's cheek and slowly shutting her locker, allowing the blonde another moment to compose herself.

Instead of making a move to head to homeroom, Arizona lent against the lockers, sagging her weight backwards and digging her converse covered feet into the linoleum to steady herself. "Tim interrupted training this morning."

Callie raised an eyebrow and mimicked Arizona's posture, resting the right side of her body against her own locker and interlocking their hands. "Oh?"

"We aren't allowed to take calls or look at our phones during practice."

"Right."

"You know, because I have to talk to coach when I need to keep mine on if I'm on Mila duty."

"Mhm."

"So I didn't keep mine on this morning because you had Mila and I wasn't supposed to need my phone."

Noticing and actively choosing to let the rambling continue, Callie nodded, giving her girlfriend her full attention.

"I accidently left my volume on, though. I guess I forgot to turn it off when I got out of my car or something. Who knows."

"Mistakes happen."

Arizona nodded, offhandedly, and continued. "I really would have ignored it, but it was Tim's ringtone."

"Well, yeah. I'm sure coach understood that."

"Of course," waving a hand, Arizona rolled her eyes at herself. "Sorry, I'm not making sense." She turned to make eye contact with Callie. "We hadn't heard from Tim for over two weeks so, well, it was-I-I'm just kind of shaken up." At Callie's widening eyes, Arizona continued. "He's okay, he's okay! I thought he wasn't, but he is. It was just some freak thing or something, I don't know. I was barely paying attention to what he was saying. All I knew was that he was saying something to me and I had thought I'd never hear hi…it's been an emotional morning. I think I'm okay."

"Oh my god, Arizona," Callie whispered, shock flowing through her body. "Why the hell haven't you been talking to me about this?"

She kissed Callie, slowly lifting the surprise off her face. "It was too hard to think about let alone discuss with _you_."

A lightning bolt went through Callie's chest at the words. "What?" she demanded. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Grinning, Arizona grabbed the hands that were pulling away from her. "It means you're the one person I can be completely vulnerable with and talking about losing my brother would have ripped me apart. And I couldn't handle that. So I avoided it altogether."

"Oh." Her hands stilled and settled back into Arizona's.

"Yeah, oh," the blonde teased, feeling the dread finally begin lifting from her body. "You make me feel safe, Calliope. Maybe that's the mom in you or maybe it's because we're made for each other. Either way, when Tim had to hang up and my emotions caught up to me this morning, the only thought I had was that I wouldn't be able to breathe if I didn't shower and come find you within the next five seconds."

Callie cut off any further sentences with her lips.

* * *

The giggles that poured out of Arizona did everything to reassure Callie that her girlfriend was in fact, feeling better, every single one of her thoughts no longer over-analyzing what terrifying and horrific event could have happened to her big brother overseas. Callie, currently resting on the bottom bleacher with a scoring pad in hand, was thoroughly enjoying watching Arizona and Teddy slam the badminton birdie back and forth, intensely competitive with each other, but laughing nonstop, faces bright red from both exertion and excitement.

"Theodora!" Arizona reprimanded. "Two hits per side, cheater!"

Callie absentmindedly flipped another point for Arizona, eyes falling to her girlfriend's gym attire. They were required to dress for physical education, but if you played a sport, you could wear whatever you did for practices and workouts. Arizona took this rule rather literally (only because her hot girlfriend also had gym sixth period). The blonde was currently decked out in black spandex shorts (if you could call them that), a bright teal sports bra, and a white work out tank that was so loose and worn that it did nothing to cover _anything_, the arm holes open all the way to Arizona's hips.

Gulping, Callie crossed her legs and forced her eyes upward, almost groaning out loud when her stomach flip flopped with one glance at Arizona's barely held together ponytail, open mouth, and intense gaze. What she wouldn't give to drag the blonde across the gymnasium and into the locker room showers to thoroughly and completely worship every single inch of h-

"CALLIOPE!"

The scream of warning failed at snapping Callie out of her trance in enough time for her to completely dodge the badminton stick, but it did give her enough time to cover her head and face, duck, and feel the racket bounce off her hunched shoulder instead.

"Oh my god!" she heard, only lifting and straightening at the sound of pounding feet and squeaking sneakers. "Oh my god. Are you okay?"

"I am _so sorry, _Callie! Arizona was being annoying and I don't know, it just slipped!"

Busting out laughing at the two panicked faces, Callie made a very dramatic move of flipping five more points onto Arizona's side of the scoreboard, glaring playfully at Teddy, who quickly bent down to pick up her racket.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Teddy worried, eyes flying over Callie's body for any sign of damage before turning and pushing her best friend with all her might, glaring at Arizona, who was doubled over in laughter, stumbling to right her balance after the force of Teddy's thrust.

"Fine, promise," Callie added as an afterthought, already entirely caught up in Arizona again. This was actually becoming a problem, but Callie had no plans to work out any solutions. "On that note, though, I think it's my turn."

"Oh, oh, play me!"

Both Callie and Teddy quirked an eyebrow at the overexcited response from Arizona, who was now jumping up and down, grinning at Callie and blindly snatching for Teddy's racket to offer her girlfriend.

Ignoring her efforts, Teddy simply handed the gear over to Callie and snorted. "I'll keep score. Obliterate her, Cal."

* * *

"Saw you checking me out in gym earlier."

Callie merely raised her eyebrows.

"Annnnnnnnd, let's be real. I'm queen at everything athletic, especially badminton, but we both know that isn't what had you entranced. You were drooling."

Swatting her, Callie rolled her eyes as Arizona settled into her Creative Writing seat. "I do not drool."

"You're right, I'm sorry. You were just so visibly turned on that I'm surprised you didn't soak through your gym shorts."

"Oh my fucki-Arizona Robbins! We are at _school_!"

Arizona responded by cackling.

"You are incorrigible."

In an attempt at composing herself, Arizona grabbed Callie's water from her desk and gulped, Callie making a disgusted face as her girlfriend drank like she had been stranded in a desert for the past three days. "Can you uh, slow down maybe, you freak?"

A knowing smirk was already appearing on her face as soon as she placed the bottle back down on the desk. "Hey, all that imaginary sex we had dehydrated me. I need to recharge."

"You're staying home tonight. I seriously can't handle anymore of you today."

* * *

**8:09 pm**

_what are you wearing?_

**8:14 pm**

_ a parka and snow pants_

**8:14 pm**

_what are you wearing under those?_

**8:17 pm**

_ a straightjacket_

**8:18 pm**

_ courtesy of my crazy girlfriend_

The call came thirty seconds later.

"Callie," Arizona whined on pick-up, drawing out the 'e' for way longer than necessary. "Come on!"

"I am not sexting you," Callie laughed. She rolled over and propped Mila's sippy cup up with her chin. Her daughter was more than capable of holding it herself, but her light chocolate colored eyes were fluttering sleepily and Callie was reminded of how quickly she was growing up.

"Masturbation is completely normal, I'll have you know."

"Is it?"

"Callie!"

Snorting, Callie waited for Mila to take one last sip before gently pulling the cup from her grip and placing it on her nightstand. She sat up, pulled Mila into her lap, and let the one-year-old kick and jab her as she settled in, eventually gripping Callie's loose hair in one hand, the other falling against her mom's bare stomach.

"I am wearing a sports bra and leggings, the tight ones. And that's all I'm giving you. Your parents aren't home. Utilize the," glancing down, Callie checked to make sure Mila had fallen into dreamland, "damn vibrator you were too chicken to go into the store and buy. I'm sure you can switch out your television remote batteries since you've probably already worn through the ones it came with." Getting up and settling Mila into her crib, Callie ran a hand through her hair and glanced at her own bedside drawer, wanting nothing more than to slip out her own, matching vibrator.

The silence on the other line made her chuckle.

"You have used it, right?"

"Well…not exactly."

"So then pray tell, mastermind, how do you expect me to help you?"

A frustrated groan sounded through the line. "You basically undressed me with your eyes this afternoon and-" Arizona ignored the "there wasn't much to undress" remark, "I think I've been turned on since last Saturday. Figure it out."

Laughing softly, Callie turned onto her stomach and got comfortable. "I'm sorry, princess."

The contented sigh that came across the phone warmed Callie's heart. "Not your fault. Actually, it really is your fault. But that isn't the point. Can we please reevaluate this whole no sleeping together thing? I think I'm ready and either way, we need to do something because my dad does the laundry this week and he's going to notice when my entire underwear drawer is in my hamper because I've literally had to change them at least three times a day."

"Arizona…"

"I'm ready, Cal."

"Right, I believe you, I do. I just want to make sure you're actually ready and not just ready because of the way I've been acting around you."

"Like I also haven't been imagining what my tongue is going to feel like inside your-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, killer."

Arizona giggled. "Sorry. Although, I have to let you know that I'm going to be utilizing that visual as soon as we get off the phone because I have to do something to relieve this tension and thinking about what you taste like is definitely one of my priorities."

"Have you even done your homework yet?"

"Wow, could you be anymore of a buzz kill, Torres?"

"Your buzz is too high. You need a little metaphorical cold shower." Or, 'we both do', Callie thought, feeling her own body grow hot.

"I did my stupid homework. Now can you please tell me where exactly on my chest you'd-"

"Goodnight, Arizona! We will talk this weekend."

"Fine, fine. See you in homeroom, jerk. I love you."

"I love you, too. Oh and Zo?"

"Mm?" The mumbled response did nothing to hide the evidence that Arizona was already getting involved with her next task.

"Use setting number three. It's a good starter."

* * *

"Morning," Callie greeted as Arizona slid into the seat in front of her, flipping around per usual, and sliding a homemade muffin across the desk. "Thank you."

"Good morning, indeed. Mom was experimenting this morning, so, hope it's good."

The cheeky smile that followed her 'good morning, indeed' remark caused an automatic eye roll in Callie, but the brunette was more than thankful for the offered breakfast, barely making it to school on time again today. Thursdays were shit.

"How was your morning?" "How's Mila?"

Both girls smiled, cheeks uncharacteristically blushing as they talked over each other.

"You go," Arizona offered, resting her chin on a propped elbow.

"Typical Thursday morning. We've gotta start staying with you Wednesday nights. Between you having mornings off and your parents keeping me fed, I may actually not feel as if my life is falling apart the fourth day of each week."

Arizona shrugged. "You're more than welcome to stay Wednesdays, you know that. Plus, I could barely handle being away from Mila yesterday and I didn't even get good morning kisses from either of my favorite Torres girls. Sex aside, I'd feel a lot more refreshed if you both stayed an extra night, too."

The gentle smile Callie threw her way reassured her honesty. She quickly reached up in her seat, giving her the kiss she had just indirectly asked for and settling back down.

"And my morning was fine. That extra hour of sleep Tuesday and Thursday always helps."

Before Callie could respond (and remind Arizona that if she and Mila stayed the night, she would probably end up getting _less_ sleep than she did on mornings she had soccer practice), the bell rang and announcements began. Checking to make sure their teacher was still outside talking to Mr. Perez across the hall, Callie reached forward, running gentle hands through blonde waves and separating the beginnings of a loose braid, whispering a quiet "you're beautiful" and enjoying the contented shivers that ran through her girlfriend.


	5. The Life of Thunderstorms

**AN: Thank you for the continued support! Here is the next chapter:**

* * *

"Hey, superstar."

Arizona caught the soccer ball she had just bunted into the air and turned, smile gracing her features. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"CJ's practice was canceled so he's getting Mila. I thought I'd come watch you for a few minutes before heading home."

Dropping the ball, she kicked it toward the middle of the field, and drew her attention back to Callie. "Well, unfortunately for you, our practice is canceled, too. I was going to run a few miles, though, but I doubt you want to watch that."

Lightning lit up the quickly darkening sky and Callie narrowed her eyes. "No you aren't. You're coming with me."

"I'll be quick," Arizona promised, ready to take off sprinting around the track, but Callie's quick reflexes gripped her around the waist and tugged.

"No, you'll take the day off. The last thing I need is a medically unstable girlfriend because she was too stubborn to go inside when she noticed all the pretty severe storm warning signs."

Arizona groaned, but began gathering her things so they could walk to the parking lot.

"And," Callie added, linking hands with the blonde once she was situated, "CJ's a great uncle, and brother, but on second thought, I don't trust his driving skills in a bad storm when my daughter's in the backseat."

"Callie," Arizona reprimanded, raising an eyebrow. "Way to be overprotective."

"Would you feel safer if we went to get her ourselves?"

The way Arizona blushed and looked away gave Callie her answer.

"You've let me drive Mila in a storm before," Arizona added, hopping up the last step and quickening their pace across the back of the school when thunder boomed loudly.

"Yeah, what's your point?"

The clouds started pouring rain and both teenagers took off, Arizona consciously slowing her pace to match her girlfriend's, keeping her hand linked with Callie's until they reached their cars. Breaking contact, Arizona ran around the passenger side of Callie's car and immediately backtracked, taking off for her own car and covering her head with her arms when she realized CJ took Mila's car seat from Callie.

"Come on, slow poke," she yelled before slamming her driver's side door shut. By the time Callie entered the car, Arizona was laughing, loudly, and ringing out her hair. "Good thing we invested in that car seat for my car, huh? Call your brother and tell him we've got her, but please be nice because he's already probably almost there and you can be a brat."

Callie simply scoffed, pulled her seatbelt into place, and kicked her feet up onto the dash before dialing her brother's number.

* * *

"Mom!" Arizona screamed the moment she walked through her front door, Callie and Mila trailing behind. "Callie's staying the night!"

"If that isn't too much trouble," Callie snarled into her girlfriend's ear and walked into the kitchen, where Barbara and Daniel were preparing dinner and watching the storm. "What your lovely, beautiful daughter meant was, would it be okay if Mila and I crashed here tonight? We left my car at school because I don't have Mila's car seat with me and I don't want to take her back out in the storm. If it's a problem, though, I can-"

"Shush," Arizona demanded, interrupting her rambling with a quick kiss and plucking a piece of broccoli out of the bowl on the counter, avoiding her Dad's swatting. "You could seriously move in if you wanted so you should stop worrying about whether my parents are going to let you stay the night."

Callie rolled her eyes toward her girlfriend's parents and they both smirked in response. "Arizona, I do have my own house and family and as much as I love yours, your parents didn't sign on to raise another baby."

Shrugging, Arizona swiped another piece of broccoli and grabbed Mila out of Callie's arms, walking to the window so the two could draw pictures in the condensation on the window. "I did, though."

"You did what?"

"Signed on to raise Mila."

* * *

"Are you free Saturday night?"

Arizona snorted and shut her locker. "Are you suffering from amnesia?"

"Huh?"

Leaning over to kiss her girlfriend, Arizona grinned. "What have I done every Saturday night, sans soccer games, since I met you?"

"Can you just answer the question?" Callie snapped, feeling frustration quickly bubble up inside of her.

The recent and seemingly permanent smile fell from Arizona's face. Fast. The blonde tentatively backed away a few inches and clutched her textbook and glitter colored notebook to her chest. "Callie?" she asked, suddenly feeling very self-conscious and unsure of herself.

"Please just answer my question," Callie sighed, suppressing every instinct to not gather Arizona into her arms and wipe off the hurt, confused, and timid look off her face. "Please."

"I'm free," her girlfriend whispered. Before Callie could respond, or apologize, Arizona slipped out of her line of vision, hurrying down the hallway to her next class.

Callie hadn't _meant_ to snap at her, but the blonde had her feeling horrible the past few days. Ever since their conversation at lunch the past weekend, after Arizona's scrimmage, the blonde's filter seemed to have decreased. Something had changed and Callie hated herself for liking the change. Arizona was Mila this and Mila that and let me love you and Mila every other breath and Callie couldn't handle it. She felt like she was suffocating and Arizona was losing the rest of her childhood and she just _snapped._

Guilt gnawed at her. She never wanted to be the person to make Arizona look like she just had. Trudging to her own class, she began metaphorically kicking herself. She knew how sensitive her girlfriend was. Arizona may act like a bad ass, but she wore her heart on her sleeve and felt everything just a little bit stronger than everyone else did. Usually, having a girlfriend who was so in tune with her emotions and so confident in what she wanted and loved was wonderful, but not when she was walking around the school looking like someone killed her litter of puppies.

Making a rash decision, Callie turned left down the hallway, instead of heading upstairs, and pushed through the other students to poke her head into Arizona's English classroom. Her girlfriend, face still crestfallen, was practically curled in on herself in her seat, eyes staring down at her desk and blinking frequently, likely in a desperate attempt to hide her tears. A quick and searing pain shot through Callie's chest and she instinctively called out Arizona's name.

The blonde immediately looked up, but stayed seated. "I'll see you next period," she promised, watery smile forced upon her face.

An apology died on Callie's lips and the bell rang. Now she had successfully made her girlfriend cry and gotten a detention for being late, meaning she was going to have to ask said crying girlfriend to pick up Mila from daycare, really not helping her entire freaking situation.

By the time Callie met Arizona outside their Advanced Child Development class the following period, she had already enlisted her parents in picking up her daughter and was feeling two-folds guilty. Mila definitely preferred Arizona. Hell, Mila preferred Arizona over Callie half the time. Her parents were not going to make light of the situation anytime soon and she knew they'd be off babysitting duty for at least the next two months.

"Hi," the blonde whispered, keeping her physical distance.

"Hi," Callie greeted, ignoring her efforts and stepping into her space. She dropped a kiss onto Arizona's forehead and then her nose and her cheeks and lips and neck and shoulder and-

"Miss. Torres, Miss. Robbins, that's enough."

"I'm so sorry," Callie quickly whispered, ducking into the classroom and avoiding their teacher's gaze.

Instead of the hesitant smile she was expecting, Arizona simply nodded and settled into her seat, body still tense. "I already text coach and let him know I'm going to miss practice today. He said it's fine."

"Oh." Callie ran her hands through her hair. "Actually, um, you can go to practice. My parents are spending the afternoon with Mila."

The gulp, the lips tightening together, the sudden inhale, the rapidly blinking eyes, the gasp at the end; it all shot through Callie like fire.

"Okay I…," Arizona choked on her own breath for a moment, "I think I need to miss practice anyway," she mumbled, shooting out of her seat and out of the classroom as another apology died on Callie's lips.

* * *

"Callie, sweetheart, hi!" Barbara greeted Saturday evening. "We missed you yesterday. Where's Mila?"

Callie let Barbara usher her into the foyer, cringing as the door shut behind them and knowing Arizona now knew she was here. "Aria is watching her tonight. I was hoping to have a quiet night alone with Arizona. Is she…?"

Barbara nodded. "I think she's getting ready. She mentioned something about having plans with you tonight and she headed upstairs to shower about an hour ago. Go ahead up."

"Would you mind if I said hello to Daniel and you checked on her? If that's inconvenient, I can go up. I just…um…"

"Hoping she makes a grand entrance?" Barbara teased. "If I know my daughter, she's getting dressed in leggings and a soccer jersey, and _maybe_ a matching pair of socks, but I get it. You two don't often go out on date nights. I'll run up. Make yourself at home, sweetheart."

Waiting for Arizona's mom to jog up the stairs, Callie let out the breath she had been holding. Arizona clearly hadn't shared what had happened between them with her parents and she definitely just dodged a bullet. Hell, on her way over, she wasn't even sure if Arizona would still be willing to spend the evening with her. Realizing she should find Daniel and keep up appearances, she made her way throughout the house, finally finding him coming in from their back deck.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted, taking in Callie's appearance. The brunette was dressed more formally than usual. After rifling through her closet for almost two hours, she had finally decided on dressy, black skinny jeans and a dark red top, knowing it was one of Arizona's favorites and hoping to make up for her behavior the other day, at least somewhat.

"Hi. How's your weekend so far?"

The two made small talk for a few minutes until Barbara made her way downstairs, a younger, brighter lookalike following behind. If Callie hadn't already been keenly aware of every micro expression her girlfriend made, she would have missed the nervousness. Her parents clearly hadn't picked up on anything. How, Callie wasn't sure, because the blonde was wringing her hands and her bottom lip was visibly trembling.

"Ready?" Callie asked, in what she hoped was the most soothing voice she could offer.

"I'm ready," Arizona replied, glancing down at her outfit. "Sorry I'm running behind. I didn't know you weren't bringing Mila and Mom told me you looked nice so I changed."

Shrugging, Callie smiled, despite the anxiety coursing through her. "You didn't have to. I'm sure you looked just as beautiful before." The comment earned her a tentative smile.

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here," Daniel teased, shooing both teens to the front door. "Home by one, Arizona. Unless you're staying at Callie's. Just let us know."

Arizona shot her parents a thumbs up and followed Callie out the door.

The two walked out, got in the car, and pulled out of Arizona's driveway in silence. It wasn't until the end of the car had fully passed by Arizona's street that the blonde next to her crumpled.

"Arizona," Callie began, startled at the heavy sobs coming out of the petite girl next to her. "Zo," she tried again, taking one hand off the steering wheel and gripping Arizona's wrist. "Hold on." She made the few turns that would lead her to their high school, pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car. "Baby, come here."

The term of endearment had Arizona's body wracking with an entirely new set of sobs. "Please tell me you aren't breaking up with me. I thought-I thought when-"

"Sh, sh. I'm not breaking up with you. I'm not. Sh. You've got to calm down."

"I don't want to lose you. You and Mila are everything to me."

Callie brushed a comforting hand down Arizona's back until the majority of her tears dried. Pulling back, she tried to keep a neutral face. "Okay. I need you to hear me out."

Arizona's heart plummeted. "You just told me you aren't breaking up with me. Don't lie to me."

"I'm not! I'm not. I promise. Why don't we head over to the restaurant and we can talk there?"

"I think I just want to talk now," Arizona requested, folding her hands in her lap and staring straight ahead of her. "What the hell is going on, Calliope? One minute you're telling me you trust me and my decisions with Mila, the next you're letting me, over your brother, drive your child home through a really bad storm, and then you're snapping at me for, well, nothing and acting all weird and not letting me see her!"

"Right, right, I've really confused you-"

"And hurt me."

"And hurt you. Hear me out, okay? Give me, like, the next ten minutes to explain?" When she received a nod, she continued. "The minute I walked into homeroom this year and saw you, I knew you were different. You were bubbly and bright and beautiful and you asked me how my daughter was, how my summer was. Said your name was Arizona Robbins and to not listen to the murmurs flying around school about the girl who had a baby way too young and then had to repeat a grade. Told me it was okay to be retained because you were there and I was pretty and we could be friends. And I was doing a great thing for a tiny human and could you meet her, maybe? I think I knew I'd fall in love with you then."

"But it took you forever to let me love you," Arizona interrupted, remembering how hard she had to throw herself at Callie to get the brunette to open up.

"Because of Mila. Not because I ever doubted you, Arizona. You've never been short of wonderful. But you know how hard repeating a grade was. My parents were disappointed, no one would shut up about me, everyone was wondering who the baby's father was, and then, and then everyone was talking about what a slut I was because I was dating another girl. They said, well, you know what they said."

"That you were only dating me because we could sleep together and not end up pregnant, again."

"Yeah…"

"I don't care about all of that, Calliope!"

"I know. Neither do I. Not anymore. What I do care about is you wasting your high school experiences away because you'd rather change diapers at three a.m. or hold a feverish baby against your chest for a solid seven hours."

"Please cut the shit, Callie. I don't know how many times I have to tell you this _is _the high school experience that I want. I want you. I want Mila. I want us. You can't decide that for me!"

"It's not that simple!" Callie snapped back and immediately felt a sense of déjà vu wash over her at Arizona's shocked face.

"Just tell me whatever it is you're trying to tell me. Don't try and spare my feelings or anything." The sarcasm dripped from every word.

After a few minutes of tense silence, Callie gulped and decided it was now or never. "I applied for early graduation a few months ago. And uh, and a few colleges. I just heard back this week and I, I got in, Arizona. School's letting me graduate on time, or early, I guess as long as I finish up the credits I was behind in. I will, after this semester, if I pass all my courses. I just won't have all those APs and electives under my belt like I had hoped."

The tension seemed to dissipate and Arizona squealed. "Oh my god, Calliope! That's amazing! I'm so proud of you! Wait…why does your face still look like that? Like the other shoe is about to drop?"

"The school that accepted me, it's um, it's kind of across the country."

* * *

Daniel and Barbara didn't know what to think when Arizona arrived home an hour and a half after she had left, tears streaming down her face, body shaking.

"Sunshine, where's Callie?" her mom asked, standing up from her spot on the couch to pull Arizona down between them. Daniel, face hard at the thought of someone hurting his youngest, wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug as Barbara grabbed a tissue and tried to wipe away the saltwater stained eyeliner marks across her cheeks.

"She's home. It doesn't matter."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter? Did you two have a fight?"

"Mom, stop!"

"Hey, Zo, don't scream at your mother. She's trying to help."

Instead of responding to her dad, Arizona let her head fall into her hands as more sobs shook her shoulders. "What am I supposed to do?" she mumbled, squeezing her knees until tiny half-moon fingerprints appeared.

"Arizona, honey, we can't help unless you talk to us. Please try and take a few deep breaths, sunshine."

"I can't. I can't do this," their daughter muttered, clumsily standing up and running up the stairs to her room, door slamming loudly after a few seconds.

"What the hell happened tonight?" Daniel asked his wife, who was already reaching for her phone and dialing her daughter's girlfriend.

* * *

Arizona's hand plunged into the popcorn bowl on Teddy's lap.

"Wait a second. So she's leaving in a few months? Just like that?"

Mouth full of food, Arizona nodded and began speaking. "I need to apologize. I totally overreacted," swallowing, she continued, "I just freaked out. She and Mila have become my world and it felt like she was ripping it all away from me without considering my feelings."

"I really don't think that's what Callie was trying to do," Teddy offered, handing over the bowl since Arizona was basically devouring every popped kernel before she even had a chance to grab a handful.

"I was just so confused by everything that had happened over the week and I mean, I'm devastated, yeah, but that doesn't mean we have to break up. I can go stay with them over the summer or something. I'll take the summer off from soccer. And maybe visit on breaks and Callie'll come home. Plus, Mila is getting a little older and we can FaceTime and stuff."

It felt like she was talking herself into something more than she was explaining what had happened to her best friend.

After Callie had explained that she had accepted Ohio State's offer, for a full-ride nonetheless, she also explained that she would be moving as soon as school let out because the on-site nursery had offered her a job, and by association, free tuition for Mila. She had to start immediately and she wanted to make as much money as she could before school actually started so she had enough to get her and Mila by for a bit while they settled.

Arizona, already having been an emotional mess, had, like she'd told Teddy, freaked out. Callie couldn't get a word in and she could barely understand a word of what Arizona was saying, besides a desperate "please take me home".

When Barbara and Daniel had called that night, Callie calmly explained what had happened, holding her tears at bay in lieu of trying to appear collected with her girlfriend's parents. She apologized, profusely, and begged the Robbins to talk to Arizona for her. If her girlfriend listened to anyone, it was her dad. Daniel and Barbara had both tried, many times, but in the end it was Teddy who helped clear Arizona's head.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Arizona passed the bowl back and stood up. "Sorry to bail on you, Teds, but I think I need to go see Callie."

* * *

"Sissy!" Callie heard Aria call from downstairs. Grumbling, she plucked Mila up from the bed, where the one-year-old had been helping Callie build a Lego tower, and began making her way out into the hallway. "You have a pretty blonde visitor!"

Heart speeding up, Callie quickened her pace. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the pretty blonde in question practically lunged forward, but forced her feet to stay planted where they were. Callie, noticing the movement despite Arizona's concealment attempts, descended the final two steps and handed Mila over. She watched the immediate relief flood Arizona's face as her daughter shrieked with happiness, mumbling "Zo! Zo here, Mama! Zo here!" over and over again.

Aria quietly excused herself and Arizona buried her face in Mila's curls, inhaling like it was the last time she'd ever smell the baby again.

"Someone's excited to see you," Callie softly mentioned. "Two people are excited to see you," she added, on second thought.

"It feels good to see you too, Calliope," Arizona replied, moving in for a hug and trying not to squish a still happily shrieking Mila in the process. "And it's only been a few days," she laughed, making a conscious effort at pushing away the lump forming in her throat. "Can we talk for a bit?"

An hour later, both girls had apologized and cried and were now laying on Callie's bed, Mila snacking on cheerios between them.

"Thank you for letting me spend some time with you two," Arizona appreciated, despite feeling rather awkward thanking her girlfriend for something she was used to doing on a mostly daily basis.

"You don't have to thank me for that."

"I think I do," Arizona added, sitting up and crossing her legs. "I'm going to head out, though. See you in school?"

Callie watched the blonde stand from her bed and kiss Mila goodbye. "Arizona, wait!" she called when the other girl was halfway to the door. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"I think we need to break up."

Arizona's hand slipped from the door handle and her eyes darted up to meet Callie's. "You what?" she asked, praying to whatever god everyone in the world believed in that Callie hadn't just said what she thought she had said.

"I think…we're too…I don't think this is going to work anymore."

Arizona's throat tightened. "Because you're scared? Because you're freaking scared that you missed me this much over only the course of a few days, when we were fighting or _whatever we were_. You're scared because of the way Mila reacted when she saw me and you're scared of leaving the place you call home and moving halfway around the country and you're taking Mila with you and…," trailing off, Arizona laughed sarcastically, eyes rolling to the ceiling. "You're scared so you're going to push me away like you've planned on doing all along. God forbid I just support you and Mila from the sidelines for a year until I get into Ohio State, too. God forbid I love you!"

"That's not why I'm doing this, Arizona!"

"You know what?" Arizona sucked in a breath and forced her voice to remain calm. Mila was staring, wide-eyed, between the two of them. "I don't think I care why you're doing this." Stepping quickly forward, she gave Mila a lingering kiss on the head, closing her eyes and trying to commit this moment to memory. "I love you," she whispered to the child. "Good luck, Callie," Arizona mumbled, before fleeing the room and the house and Callie's heart.

* * *

**AN: Don't hate me? **


	6. The Color Blue

**A/N: _Trigger warning for suicidal ideation and thoughts of self-harm._**

**For the reviewer who raged that I ended the story on chapter five...I didn't? **

**For everyone else, enjoy!**

* * *

"Teddy, I'm open!"

After a quick and flawless pass, Arizona sent the ball sailing into the net, untying the game and immediately running toward the center of the field where her teammates had gathered, screams of excitement pouring out of them.

"Oh my god, Robbins!" Teddy shrieked, launching herself into the blonde's arms and noticing an actual smile cross her best friend's face. Arizona hadn't smiled like that for the past few weeks, ever since her and Callie's breakup. Instead, the blonde had been grumpy, the strictest hard ass _ever_, bordering on downright rude, and sarcastic.

After the excitement died down, Arizona reminded her team to shake hands with the opposing girls, ran quickly down the line congratulating the other school on a good game, and took off into the stands to see her parents.

A few yards before reaching the bleachers, her jaw dropped, a new set of shrieks emerged, and she was taking off across the field. "Tim!" she yelled, tears already flying down her face. Arizona's body slammed into his and her brother was spinning her around in circles, making them both dizzy.

"What the hell!" she yelled after he finally put her down. Tim gently wiped the tears off her face and kissed her on the forehead.

"Nice goal, sunshine. I swear last time I saw you, you couldn't even kick the ball without ruining all the turf and grass wherever you played."

She immediately punched him in the arm, grin plastered on her face. "You're an ass. That was when I was like four. I have grown up a bit."

"Yeah, heard you even have a kid now."

The smile on Arizona's face dropped and she heard her parents clear their throats behind the pair.

"Surprise," Barbara cheered. "We didn't have the chance to explain the break up yet. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Arizona shrugged them off. Her brother was here and she only cried over Callie at night in her room. No one was going to see her bawling her eyes out in public, especially in the middle of a soccer field where she had just pushed her team into the championship game. Instinctively, she glanced up toward the stands in search of her ex and Mila, but quickly forced herself to stop and turned her attention back to her brother.

"How long are you in for?"

"Just a week." When he saw Arizona's pout, he laughed. "That week is dedicated to you, though. I could have taken a whole month off," he ignored Arizona's "_why didn't you!?"_, "but then I couldn't come home next year for your graduation and to take you on vacation, just the two of us, before you head to college."

His sister's eyes lit up despite her confusion and she launched herself at Tim again. Losing Callie and Mila was proving to be the toughest experience of her life but she wasn't going to let that ruin her week with her brother.

* * *

"You're seriously an idiot," Tim muttered, picking up his spoon and flinging whipped cream at his laughing sister. Her shocked face, now covered in sticky dessert, motivated him to do it again.

"Timothy, stop!" she shrieked, snatching the spoon out of his hand and wiping at her face. "You're disgusting."

Instead of answering, he nudged the dessert plate toward her side of the table and sat back, watching her dig in to finish.

"So," he began, tossing her a genuine smile and wink. "When's Arizona a la the ladies gonna get back in the game?"

Arizona let her spoon clatter against the empty plate awkwardly. Tim realized he may have hit where it hurt when his sister turned her attention out the window of the diner and stared wistfully outside, face falling and trying desperately to keep it together.

"Or…do you want to talk about it?" he tried, not really knowing how to handle Arizona right now. The two were close, closer than most siblings, but Tim had been out of the house for a few years and the last Arizona he really remembered spending quality time with was so girl crazy she got caught making out on their parents' bed more than just once.

Arizona laughed sarcastically, something she noticed she had been doing a lot lately. "No, I really can't talk about it. It makes me…it makes me crazy and when I start talking or thinking about it I can't stop crying. I can't catch my breath and I feel like my life is worthless and I…" Taking a few slow breaths, she locked eyes with Tim. "Callie was it for me. That was the game."

The ring of her cell phone saved Tim from trying to find something supportive and helpful to say. He'd never seen his sister like this.

"Hello?" Arizona answered, not checking who it was before she hit the green button on the screen.

"_Hey! Hi, Arizona. Oh thank god."_

Arizona's eyes shot up to Tim, who quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

"_Um…I'm so sorry for calling you. I know I'm the last person on the planet you want to hear from, but I didn't know what else to do."_

Arizona's facial features and heart softened. She'd be lying if she said she wouldn't still do anything for the girl on the other line. "What's wrong?"

"_I'm at an airport in Ohio."_

"Um…"

"_I'm visiting Ohio State this weekend. My family promised to watch Mila but CJ's in the hospital and she's at daycare and I don't know who else to call and-"_

"I'll get her. I still have all her stuff in my room anyways. If CJ okay?"

"_Something about football practice. I'm a horrible sister. I wasn't even listening to my mom. All I could think about was who was going to get Mila and oh god what if he-"_

"Calliope, calm down. I'll go get Mila. I've got her, okay? You go wow the people at Ohio State. I think I can handle a few hours with Mila, alright?"

"_But your brother's in and I don't know when someone else can get her and-"_

Arizona cut Callie off again and tried not to think about how she knew about Tim visiting. "Cal, it's okay. Mila and I are pals! I'll go get her and maybe Tim and I will take her to the park or something, okay? Give your mom a call and relax. Nothing's going to happen to Mila. I promise I've got her."

"_I know you've got her. That's the last thing I'm worried about. Thank you, Arizona. I'm going to give my mom a call on the way to this interview and change my flight to the first one back out of here. If someone doesn't come get her before I get back, I promise I'll come there first."_

"Let me know if CJ is alright, please. Just give me a call whenever you have an update." There were so many more things Arizona wanted to say, but she couldn't stomach the thought of listening to Callie's voice any longer. The more she immersed herself back into the brunette, the harder it was going to be when this little emergency ended and everything went back to being broken.

Hanging up the phone, she addressed a very confused Tim. "Wanna help me babysit?"

* * *

"Zo! Zo! Zo!"

Arizona practically crumpled onto the floor, gathering Mila into her arms and squeezing as tight as she could without hurting the little girl. "Hi, sweetheart."

"Zo! Hi, Zo!"

"Hi, baby," she greeted, kissing her nose and cradling her against her chest. "Hi, baby girl."

"So she's all set to go! She had a great day today. Ate all her lunch, slept well, had fun during water play." Janae, Mila's teacher, interrupted the two's reunion and cleared Arizona's head from its bubble of toddler sweetness. "It's great to see you! It feels like it's been forever. How's soccer going?"

"It's good," Arizona answered, plastering on a fake smile and standing up with Mila in her arms. "Well, thank you! Say bye, Mi."

The one-year-old waved and chirped an excited goodbye and Arizona grabbed Tim's hand, hightailing it out of the building. Clearly, Callie hadn't explained their breakup to anyone either.

* * *

"Hey, kiddo!" Daniel greeted when he got home from work that evening to find Mila sitting on Arizona's lap at the kitchen table as Tim and Barbara finished placing full plates at every chair. "What in the world are you doing here?"

Mila was happily waving, awaiting a hug and kiss, and both Robbins' parents shared a look.

"Callie is in Ohio at an extended interview for the daycare she's working at or something. I don't know why she has an interview if she already has the job, but whatever. Her family was supposed to watch Mila, but CJ earned himself a pretty rough concussion at football practice and Callie asked if I'd watch her until she gets back. Her flight gets in tomorrow morning."

"Well that's…"

"We're glad CJ is okay and happy to spend some time with Mila," Barbara offered, observing Daniel's shocked expression.

Arizona simply nodded and went back to providing unwavering attention to the toddler in her lap.

* * *

Morning came way too quickly and Arizona's eyes fluttered open to a familiar smell (lemon and mint and Calliope Torres) and shadow hovering over her. Somewhat confused and disoriented, she quickly closed her eyes against the light and held Mila protectively against her chest. The toddler had a pack and play sitting right across from Arizona's bed, but Arizona wasn't able to let her go last night and instead, Mila slept against the blonde's chest.

"Callie?" she asked sleepily, blinking open her eyes again and focusing on the brunette smiling awkwardly down at her. "Hi."

"Thank you for doing this," Callie immediately whispered, hesitating to lift Mila off her ex-girlfriend and into her own arms despite being away from her for almost 24 hours. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You're welcome, but it really was fine. I…I really missed her, Callie."

Arizona scooted over, trying not to wake the baby, and patted the spot next to her.

"I was thinking about that," Callie began, slipping off her flip-flops and laying next to Arizona, despite her head telling her no. "It's really not fair of me to keep you two apart. I know I'm leaving in a few months, but that doesn't mean you two can't continue having a relationship. Maybe spend a few hours together each week? She always asks for you and I don't want to rip you away from her when you're practically her favorite person on the planet."

"I'd like that."

"Good. She's yours anytime you want her. Just shoot me a text."

"K. I'd love that, Calliope. Thank you."

"I'm sorry for not deciding this sooner."

An 'it's fine' died on Arizona's lips and a "me too" emerged instead.

Silence almost fell over the room, but Arizona couldn't stop herself.

"I need to talk to you, but I'm scared it will ruin my chances of seeing Mila."

Callie sat up against Arizona's headboard and gently took the baby out of Arizona's arms, placing her into her pack and play and motioning for Arizona to sit up too. "I think that's impossible. Unless you're about to tell me you killed and cooked up a child last night for dinner."

Arizona giggled. "No. Vegetarian, remember?"

"Do people count?"

The blonde giggled again. "I don't know. I mean, would you eat people?"

Callie smiled. "Not for dinner."

The two realized they were headed to forbidden and awkward territory and quickly sobered up.

"So you were saying?" Callie prompted.

"Um…I haven't talked to anyone about this but I think I should. It's kind of embarrassing or uh, scary maybe? I'm sorry for unloading this on you but part of me needs to be selfish about it and the other part of me knows you need to know if you're entrusting me with Mila."

Callie nodded, full attention on the blonde.

Arizona sighed and continued, "Ever since we broke up, I've…um, I've been kind of a mess. Trying to hold it together, you know, but it's um, really hard. I knew I'd miss Mila so much and I knew losing you'd be _tough_, but I didn't think I'd feel so lost and empty and um, unsafe?"

"Arizona…"

"I've been having these thoughts, um…Listen, this isn't because of you. I don't understand why we're broken up and I'll admit I'm still sometimes bitter and angry, but mostly I'm just sad. I respect your decisions and if you don't want to be with me, that's okay. I'm just sad and lonely and _sad_. That's something for me to figure out though. I'm not telling you this to make you feel guilty or to blame you. I've just been having these thoughts like uh, what's the point, you know?"

Callie startled at the words and watched Arizona's eyes tear up. "What do you mean?"

"Like, um, why am I here? I'm sorry, this is," Arizona waved her hands around and tried to come up with the right words and the courage. "Callie, thoughts like wouldn't it be easier if I wasn't here anymore, thoughts like I don't want to be here anymore."

"Like live anymore? Be here physically or be here, be here?" Callie cut in, panic seeping through her.

Arizona looked down at her lap. "Be here, be here. Um, like there's um," she ran her hands through her hair and pulled gently, frustrated. "There's a knife downstairs in the kitchen that I think I could use to easily um, you know or there's the bridge near school or any of the main roads and I…I wonder what it would be like to drown or to suffocate or I could just use my pain meds from soccer and then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much. But I want to hurt because I need to feel something, but feeling anything right now is too much and I just…I don't know if I want to live anymore."

Callie gulped and despite her best efforts, tears ran down her cheeks. "Arizona, I think I need to tell your parents."

"No! No, Calliope. Listen, I'm going to talk to them. I just needed to tell someone that understands me first and-"

"They understand you. They love you and-"

"Not like you did. I just…I'm not going to do it. I think about all the different ways I could do it, but I'm not planning on doing it. I just…I'm really sad all the time and I know I need to talk to someone, but you told me I could have Mila and I tried to push all those thoughts away. I promise I'd never…I'd keep her safe, Callie, I promise."

Ignoring her best judgment, Callie pulled Arizona into a bone-crushing hug. "I know you'd keep her safe, Zo. I trust you with her. I trust you with _you_. And I think you're right. Talking to someone can definitely help. I promise I'm not going to keep Mila from you because of this. You can't control this and you were so brave to tell me. You can still see Mila whenever you want, okay? This doesn't change anything. I have one condition, though."

"Anything."

"I'm going to need you to tell your parents right now."

"But what does that have to do with Mila?"

"It doesn't. It has to do with you and I can't walk out of this house knowing you may not be safe."

"But Callie, I told you I'm not gonna do it and I'm gonna tell them. I just-"

"And I believe every word you said. But you still have to tell them. I'll stay if you want the support, okay? I'll even tell them for you. But they need to know, Zo."

An hour later, Callie was kissing a teary Arizona on the forehead, Mila now awake and sitting in her car seat. "I'm really proud of you," she told the blonde. "Call me if you need anything, okay? And call when you want to see the rugrat."

"Thank you for everything, Callie."

Callie offered a final hug and got into her car. Arizona watched her drive off and slumped against the porch. That was not how her morning was supposed to go. She wasn't supposed to spill her guts to Callie and now have an appointment in three hours to see a clinician specializing in adolescents. She was supposed to make and eat pancakes with Mila, go mini golfing with Tim, and then have movie night with her parents and brother. Sighing, she stood up and made her way inside. She was pretty sure her parents were going to be walking on eggshells around her for a while and Tim looked like he never wanted to come home again. Despite every bone in her body wanting to call Callie, she knew she never would. Continuing to drag the girl she loved into her mess was the last thing she was going to do. Shooting up the stairs before her family saw that she had come back inside, Arizona slumped onto her bed and cradled her head in her hands. Maybe talking to someone who didn't know her would help.


	7. Green Tea Lattes and Eggshells

**AN: Hi! Thank you for all the feedback on the last chapter. I'm sorry this took so long - I don't really have any excuses other than life being busy and this not being a top priority. Find me on tumblr buildyourownarchitecture if you want to talk fic!**

_**Trigger warning for suicidal ideation and self-harm talk.**_

* * *

The flash of blonde caused an immediate dilemma to overtake Callie's brain. Her heart constricted and her stomach erupted in dinosaur-sized butterflies. Callie had spent the entire rest of Saturday and all day Sunday trying to convince herself everything going on with Arizona wasn't her fault, that she was making the right decision pulling away before the two (and Mila) grew even more emotionally attached. Arizona had pleaded with her not to blame herself and Callie knew, on an intellectual level, that Arizona's depression and suicidal thoughts weren't her fault. They weren't anyone's fault, but that didn't stop Callie's heart from screaming at her that she never should have gotten involved with Arizona. Pulling the bubbly and bright blonde into her mess was a mistake and despite their entire relationship proving that idea wrong, Callie couldn't stop the nagging blame and guilt and horror.

Sighing, she clenched the Starbucks cup in her left hand a little tighter and moved toward Arizona's locker. Her ex hadn't shown up for school Monday or Tuesday, which was so _not _Arizona, especially when her soccer championship game was next week. Callie, and her wallet, were thankful that Arizona was at school today. She had been buying and throwing away a green tea latte everyday. She would continue to do so every single day for the rest of her life if it meant Arizona was okay, but Mila, her future apartment's rent and utilities, and her debit card definitely appreciated being able to finally give the blonde her drink and check in with her.

Taking a deep breath, Callie walked the last few steps down the hallway and softly cleared her throat. An exhausted, raccoon eyed Arizona glanced up at Callie.

"Morning," Callie murmured, handing over the coffee cup she was trying not to clutch to smithereens with her hand. "Thought you might need this," she added when Arizona raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you."

"Mhm. " The pair stared at each other, Callie fighting her protective instincts and Arizona at a pretty big loss for what to say or do.

"How are-" "How's M-"

Laughing, Callie motioned for Arizona to speak first and tried not to frown when Arizona's affect remained flat.

"I was going to ask how Mila is…"

"She's good. Picking up words like she's a human dictionary, I swear. There's a new toddler in her daycare room and they've really hit it off. I think I'm going to try and set up some play dates." Callie held her breath through the awkward silence. "Maybe you can take her on one?"

"Maybe that's something you should do, Calliope."

"Oh." Trying not to sound dejected, Callie faked a smile. "Well my offer of Mila time still stands. I trust you."

Arizona nodded once, looking everywhere but at Callie. "I'll see you in class. Thank you for the coffee."

As the blonde walked down the hallway, Callie couldn't help but feel like whatever the hell was feeling so off about this entire situation was going to hang around for the long run.

* * *

"_What do you mean_ she said no to spending time with Mi?"

Shrugging, Callie nudged Teddy's arm off the textbook lying on the desk in front of them. They were _supposed_ to be practicing their calculus questions and their teacher kept making 'the limit does not exist' jokes, but Callie was pretty positive she had reached her limit in the hallway earlier that morning. "Scoot. I don't want to fail out before I even get to college."

"Someone may condone that."

"Shut up, Teddy. She would not."

"You're right. She'd sacrifice about a million things plus her own life for your happiness and success."

The way Callie slammed the textbook closed frightened not only Teddy but also the rest of the class.

"Everything okay back there, Miss. Torres?"

Callie waved their teacher off with a quick apology and glared at her partner. "Can you not make jokes about Arizona's life right now?"

"Huh?"

"I know that's not what you meant, but under the circumstances I'm really not-"

"_What _circumstances?"

Finally looking up from where she was aggressively drawing circles onto her paper with her pen, Callie froze. "Um. Nothing. I'm just a little agitated. Mila kept me up all night and I miss Arizona and ya know."

"Um no. Not nothing."

"Seriously, everything is fine. I'm sorry for snapping."

"Callie Torres."

"Teddy, I sw-"

"Don't promise me something that isn't true."

"Look, it's not my place to tell you about this. She's okay. She just…" Before Callie could finish her sentence, Teddy was up, out of her seat, and standing in front of their math teacher asking for a hall pass. "Shit, shit, shit," she mumbled, immediately asking for her own hall pass after Teddy and pawning it off on her period. Tapping her foot impatiently, Callie internally groaned at how slowly Ms. Leitner was writing out her pass. By the time she made it out of the classroom, Teddy was long gone. "Fuck."

Five minutes later, Callie found Arizona and Teddy hidden in the stairwell closest to Arizona's history classroom.

"I'm sorry! It just slipped."

Teddy was crying, Arizona was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, and the tension was palpable.

"How does something like that _just slip!_" Arizona yelped, showing more emotion than Callie had seen from her all day. "Jesus, Callie, do you really think that's how I wanted Teddy to find out she's on my fucking safety plan!"

Trying her hardest to remain calm and ignore the desperation behind Arizona's words, Callie reminded herself that her ex-girlfriend had not had an easy last few weeks and had, up until this past weekend, been doing a damn good job at holding it all inside. She could manage some anger.

"I'm so sorry."

"Zo," Teddy interrupted, pulling the blonde into a hug and forcing her crossed arms away, "she really didn't mean to. I made a stupid joke, she reacted, and I didn't let it go."

Sighing and blowing hair out of her face in frustration, Arizona jammed her fingernails into the palm of her hand, internally cringing at the half moon shaped indents already beginning to sting. "It's fine," she relented, sliding down the wall and pulling her knees up to her chest. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine."

Callie and Teddy shared a hesitant look.

"You know what?"

Callie's voice startled Arizona out of her fine mantra and the blonde gently knocked her head against the concrete wall behind her, giving Callie a questioning look.

"I could seriously go for a sundae right now. I know I just told Ms. Leitner I'm on my period to get out of class, but maybe it's coming because I swear this craving just hit me like an open handed slap. You guys up for ditching school? I'll let you pick the toppings, Zo."

The smallest of smiles crossed Arizona's face and she glanced at Teddy for confirmation.

"Why the fuck does she get to pick the toppings?"

Arizona slapped away Teddy's offered hand and got up from the floor herself. "Shut up, T."

* * *

"Arizona, sunshine!" Barbara Robbins called later that evening, when she heard Arizona come into the house and begin tumbling up the stairs. When her call went ignored, she followed the high schooler up the back staircase and into her room, slamming a gentle hand against the light blue door right before it shut completely. "Sunshine."

Barbara heard the groan before she got the door fully open again. She watched as Arizona threw her backpack onto her desk chair and began changing out of her clothes. Taking a seat on her teen's bed, she waited patiently.

Ten minutes later and Arizona had successfully done just about everything she could think of to successfully avoid her mom. Dressed in pajamas, teeth brushed, face washed, and hair now pulled back into a braid, she emerged from her bathroom and sat on the opposite side of her bed, curling her legs into a pretzel and leaning against her paint splattered headboard.

"What?" she snapped, eyes narrowing.

Sighing, Barbara crawled up and rested against the headboard next to her daughter. All tough faces and mean words the past few days didn't fool her. She watched as Arizona wrung her fingers together, thumbs slipping past the ring Callie had gotten for her during some arts fair downtown a few months ago. Raising an eyebrow, she realized she hadn't seen Arizona take the winding ring off since they broke up.

"Sweetheart…want to try and explain why I got phone calls from your teachers and coach today wondering if we knew when you were coming back to school, as you'd missed half this week already? They sounded worried, especially Mr. Jackson who claimed you ran out of class in a frenzy and never came back."

"Oh my god." Arizona, hands now rubbing viciously at her face, slouched down and bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

"You aren't in trouble."

"What?" Snapping back up, she cocked an eyebrow at her mom and let some of the fierce anger fall from her features. "I ditched school."

"Callie called me when you girls were at the restaurant. Said you would probably do some more things and she'd get you home by 8. Not to worry, that she'd keep you safe."

"I do not need Calliope to keep me safe! I think I can freaking manage."

"Arizona..."

"No, mom!" Arizona stood up from the bed, anger overtaking her face again, fists balled up against her sides. "I wish everyone would stop treating me like I'm broken! In case you aren't aware, I haven't actually slit my wrists yet!"

"Arizona!"

"What, can you not handle the truth, mom? Stop walking on eggshells! Punish me for skipping classes and practice. You would any other day."

"You aren't necessarily going through so much any other day. I think a little flexibility is allowed here."

"Damnit!" Flopping back down on the bed, much closer to her mother this time, Arizona let her head fall into Barbara's shoulder, sniffling violently in an attempt to not start crying, _again, for the millionth gazillionth time._ "I'm sorry."

"Sh," Barbara comforted, pulling Arizona into her side and letting her drop her head into her lap as she gently combed her fingers through her braid's tail. "None of us really know what we are doing with all of this, sunshine. It's going to kind of be a play by ear sort of thing, but I am going to need you to stop pretending you're full of only anger and aggression because unless you kidnapped and cloned my daughter, you don't pull those things off too well. You're allowed to be sad, sweetheart. You're allowed to hate and love Callie at the same time and you're allowed to not know how to resolve those conflicting feelings."

Arizona rolled on her back and locked eyes with her mom. "How did you know that?" she asked, incredulous.

Swiping a finger down her daughter's nose, Barbara chuckled. "You've been sharing my top priority spot with your brother for seventeen years, sunshine. I'd like to think I know you just a little bit by now. You're only a teenager, Arizona, and a lot has been thrown at you these past few months. You've had to do a lot of growing up and quickly."

"Not you too."

"I didn't say you weren't ready. I know how much you love Mila and Callie and I don't agree with Callie's choices all the time. Funny thing is, I don't have to. You're my daughter and my job is to love and protect you, make sure you know you're important and wonderful, step-mom or not. Will your father and I miss them? Of course we will. Mila became our granddaughter as much as Callie became our daughter and you became part of their family. However, you, darling, are my forever and no breakups, children, or suicidality is going to take that away or change any of that."

Not knowing exactly how to respond to her mom, but feeling a strong desire to show her just how much she appreciated what she said, Arizona curled further into her. "Love you," she murmured, fingers beginning to draw invisible flowers into her mom's knee.

"Love you, sunshine."

* * *

"Morning."

Smiling in relief at seeing Arizona again, Callie hastily threw her belongings onto her desk and turned to face the blonde. "Hi. How are you?"

"I'm frustrated with how much people are asking me how I am." At Callie's raised eyebrow, Arizona continued, "yeah, I get it. I said I think about killing myself and all of a sudden people need to check in on me every hour. For the record, I'm going to go to my parents, therapist, or Teddy if I'm not okay or if things get worse."

Running stressed hands through her hair and pulling it into a quick ponytail, Callie tried to remain calm. "People are allowed to worry about you. Stop blowing this off like it's no big deal or that suicide isn't a serious thing. You –"

"Newsflash, Callie, but you broke up with me. You don't get to care _like this_. This," Arizona explained, motioning between the two, eyes flaring, "makes me feel guilty, like, like, god forbid I be upset and angry with you for essentially dumping me with no solid or valid reasoning, ripping away Mila, and then calling me in an emergency and bringing me morning coffee. You're confusing. And that hurts me. Is me feeling suicidal your fault? Absolutely not. But you don't get to care, not like this, Callie. It's not fair."

Arizona stood up, grabbed her notebook, planner, and pen, and began shuffling toward the door, where their homeroom teacher was finishing morning hall duty. In a last minute effort to fix whatever just transpired, Callie stood and called out. When Arizona stopped walking, back stiff, the brunette sighed. "Just because we aren't dating doesn't mean I can just give up caring about you. That isn't fair either."

Half turning and glancing at her ex, Arizona stood a little straighter, trying her hardest to ignore the stares from their classmates. "Are you going to date me again? Apologize for breaking my heart and take it all back?"

Tension hung in the air and hushed whispers spread throughout the room. Finally, Callie slowly began shaking her head no. Before she could verbally respond, Arizona turned back around and continued heading toward their teacher, mumbling a, "then this isn't healthy for me."

Slumping back into her seat, Callie watched Arizona ask for a new homeroom seat.

* * *

"You've got to stop making Callie feel guilty for you wanting to hurt yourself."

Throwing her head back, Arizona shrieked. "Jesus, mother! Can I take more than two steps into my own home without you throwing Calliope in my face? Just last night you were on my side!" Angrily tossing her backpack into the corner by the wall, the blonde crossed her arms and stared her parents down.

"Sunshine, we are always on your side. Being on your side doesn't mean not teaching you what is right and wrong though. You're our child."

Laughing sarcastically, Arizona clenched her jaw in an attempt to control her anger. "I _am not _making her feel guilty for _any _of this! We had a fight in homeroom because she is still acting like we are dating and _I can't do that anymore!_ I'm lucky I can get through a class without thinking about how worthless my life is and I certainly do not need Calliope Torres making that worse by shoving how much she still cares about me down my throat."

Daniel sighed. "Arizona, honey, maybe the best solution to all of this is to really sit down and talk to Callie, explain everything a little better."

"_I don't owe anyone an explanation!"_

The scream startled both her parents.

"Especially not her! She sure as fuck didn't give me one!"

"Arizona Robbins!" Barbara admonished, flustered by the language coming out of her daughter's mouth.

"Oh, screw both of you! How the hell did you even find out about what happened today? Did my ex-girlfriend call you or did you send her a text checking up on me? None of you are helping me! I just want you all to leave me the fuck alone!"

"We understand you are upset, but you know using that language toward us is unacceptable and…" Daniel trailed off when Arizona rolled her eyes and walked right back out the door she had just come in from.

* * *

_Arizona Robbins_

_dont you dare tell my parents where i am. _

_calliope_

_excuse me? what?_

_Arizona Robbins_

_promise me you arent going to tattle on me._

_calliope_

_seriously what the hell are you talking about?_

_Arizona Robbins_

_im not telling you anything until you promise me._

_calliope_

_fine, I promise. as long as you're safe._

_Arizona Robbins_

_you better keep that promise._

_let me in._

"Wait, what?" Callie mumbled out loud, slipping Mila into her playpen and rushing down the stairs. "What are you doing?" she immediately asked after opening the door to reveal a teary eyed Arizona clutching her car keys and cell phone.

By the time she got the question out, Arizona was in her arms, clutching onto the back of her shirt and trembling, shaky, hot breaths puffing against her neck.

"Okay, okay. Come on. Mi's upstairs. Let's go to my room."

Ten minutes later, Arizona was wrapped in Callie's sweatpants and hooded sweatshirt, tucked in under the covers, face wiped clean of tracked mascara and eyeliner, hair brushed and pulled back into a loose braid. Mila was tucked into her side, eyelids fluttering sleepily, but happily, and Callie was cross-legged on the left side of the bed, far enough away that she wasn't touching Arizona, but close enough to keep steady eye contact.

"This was a stupid idea," the blonde mumbled, slipping a kiss onto Mila's forehead and tilting her head further into the pillow under her. "But I'm exhausted and you smell so good and Mila's here and I didn't have anywhere else to go."

Choosing to ignore the word vomit from her exhausted, emotionally drained ex, Callie stood from the bed to remove her own makeup. "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to fight with you."

"I'm sorry, too. I was being kind of mean. That's one of the downfalls of feeling so on edge and in tune with all my negative feelings…sometimes, I lash out."

Wiping away the last of her eyeliner, Callie shrugged off her sweater and slippers, leaving her in leggings and a loose t-shirt. "You shouldn't apologize for what you said, Zo. You're right. I am being really unfair and you shouldn't have to reassure me that you are okay everyday. I sorta lost that privilege."

"True. Although, I'm a huge hypocrite. Mila is asleep, by the way. Should we move her before we continue this?"

Leaning over Arizona (Arizona having to slam her eyes shut when Callie's cleavage ended up right in her line of vision), Callie effortlessly slid a hand under Mila, picking her up, and turning to place her in her crib. Running a quick hand down her daughter's back, Callie kissed her goodnight, and crawled into bed with Arizona, remembering to keep her distance.

"Why are you a hypocrite?" she asked after getting comfortable. "I'm also ignoring that it's kind of early for bed so let's just go with it."

Arizona chuckled lightly. "Mila's going to be up at the crack ass of dawn because of this. You realize that, right?"

"Yeah, well, you can get her when she wakes up."

"You're nuts," Arizona teased, turning onto her side. "I will gladly get her. Kind of my fault, anyway."

"Definitely your fault," Callie agreed sarcastically, rolling her eyes and motioning for Arizona to answer her original question.

"Because. I can't get you out of my head _or_ heart so how can I expect you to stop caring when I care so much?"

"Oh."

"It's not just Mila who I want to stay involved with, Calliope. This is up to you, but I'd like to stay friends, if you'll let us. I know I'm a basket case lately and I have been taking a lot out on you, but I'll try to be better. No begging you to get back together, no flirting with you or coming on to you, no yelling at you about caring about me. Just friends. The thought of losing you completely is just too hard."

"I'd be honored to be your friend, Arizona, but everything you just said is ridiculous. You're going through a lot and that means you're allowed to feel angry, sad, and upset. You are taking things out on me appropriately. I just broke your heart."

"It's not your fault."

"Yes it is!" Callie argued, sitting up and waving her hands toward the door. "If I recall correctly, you walked out of that exact door after I broke up with you."

"No, that's your fault," Arizona corrected, smiling softly at Callie's surprised look. "I meant everything else, like, ya know, the _other stuff_."

"You mean the wanting to kill yourself stuff?" Callie asked, bluntly, sick of beating around the bush and doing her best to stop walking on eggshells around Arizona, like the blonde had both directly and indirectly begged for.

Cringing, Arizona nodded. "I was trying not to bring it up."

"Well you should. You should feel open to talking about it, not ashamed, especially with me and regardless of what stupid things I say or do that hurt you. When we don't talk about it, I sometimes question whether it is my fault."

Arizona sat up so quickly, Callie thought she was going to get whiplash. "It isn't. Your fault, that is. It's not. I promise, Calliope, more so than I've ever promised something ever." Taking the older girl's hands into her own, Arizona squeezed. "What can I do to help you understand and believe that?"

Squeezing back, Callie shook her head. "Nothing. I do believe you and I think I understand. It's just hard."

"I know. It's really hard."

"Yeah…"

"So," Arizona muttered, suddenly feeling awkward and unsure of what to do next.

"So I think I owe you an explanation for why I broke up with you, but first I need you to call your parents and let them know you're okay and will be home after school tomorrow."

"You promised!" Arizona argued, ripping her hands away.

"Yeah, I promised that I wouldn't tell them, but I said nothing about you."

"That's mean."

Reaching over to grab Arizona's phone off the nightstand, Callie handed it over. "Would you be frantic if a week after Mila told you she was thinking of killing herself with a knife from the kitchen, she ran off and refused to respond to your calls or texts?"

"Okay, alright, you have a point. After I get off the phone with them, I expect a full out explanation with plenty of time for Q&amp;A though."

Grinning, Callie laid back down, dramatically motioning toward Arizona's cell phone and waiting patiently, despite her heart rate rattling against her chest with nerves.


	8. Compromises

**AN: Thank you for the continuous feedback :) I hope this is still on someone's radar (yikes me)! Find me on tumblr at buildyourownarchitecture.**

* * *

"Look, I'm really not trying to upset you here, but what the _fuck _were you thinking? Going to Callie's and letting her spoon you all night could have been just about the dumbest decision you've ever made."

Arizona glared. "I needed answers. You're not being a very good best friend right now."

"No, no. I'm being a great best friend. Did the answers even help, Arizona?"

Arizona shrugged. Going over to Callie's last night had _not_ been just about getting answers. Honestly, she didn't even really want any answers. Her ex had given her the only answer she needed in homeroom when she said they wouldn't be getting back together. The whole point of going over there last night had been to feel something, anything, besides the total and utter _crap_ she was constantly feeling lately.

After minutes of tense silence, Teddy groaned. "Okay, I give. What happened?" The taller girl slid an elbow onto the lunch table, resting her head in her hand and giving Arizona her full attention, her apple slices and peanut butter now forgotten in front of her. "Period ends in twenty, make it snappy."

Shoving her own largely uneaten lunch away, Arizona grimaced at the nauseous rolling of her stomach and her light-headedness. Pushing the food away was probably up in the top five dumbest decisions she had made lately, one or two under going to Callie's yesterday, despite how good it made her feel.

"I'd like to think it was romantic, because, well come on, but it really wasn't. She basically mothered me into warm clothes and tucked me in bed, made me call my parents, and then hosted our own tragic version of a Q&amp;A."

"Sounds miserable?" Teddy tried, reaching out to clasp hands with her best friend, despite the sudden flinch that came afterward. Teddy moved to pull away, but the tightening of Arizona's fingers around her own stopped her.

"I don't know." Sighing, Arizona glanced around the cafeteria, immediately spotting the brunette a few tables away, hand limply holding onto a fork covered in questionable lettuce and head buried in a science book. Her stomach rolled again. Taking a few deep breaths through her nose to wave off the nausea, Arizona turned back to find Teddy staring at her sympathetically. "I really don't know. I don't know anything anymore. But it felt good to be with her and everything already hurts enough so why not let myself feel good for those short moments?" Before Teddy could interrupt, Arizona sped on. "Don't feed me any of that it'll only hurt worse after bullshit because I don't care. Anyway – I guess, in a weird way, the answers did help."

"Is it prying to ask you what the answers were?"

Feeling a bit lighter when Teddy chose to actually listen to her rather than continue to berate her for going to Callie's, Arizona unlinked their hands and forced herself to take a bite of her PB&amp;J. Her stomach churned each time her bottom and top teeth clicked.

"Not really, no. You _are_ my best friend," she tried to tease, swallowing what was left in her mouth and gulping down half her water bottle. "I won't bore you with the details, but she basically just explained how she has a lot of self-guilt. That regardless of how I feel about the situation or how hard I fight her on it, she's never going to not feel so guilty and awful for putting me in a mom situation before I was 'ready' - whatever that means."

"Isn't that what she's been telling you since before you even got together, though?"

Giving up on eating anymore, Arizona shrugged. "I guess. T, I really don't get it, but I'm so tired of fighting her on it. She's moving soon and I need to put my life back together, with or without Calliope Torres."

* * *

When Arizona slid down next to Callie in their Advanced Child Development class, the brunette's eyebrows shot toward her hairline. She immediately stopped writing down the response prompt on the board and studied the blonde out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey."

"Hey?"

_Write about a child who has made a difference in your life. Free write for the first ten minutes of class. Don't worry about grammar and spelling. Please just get your thoughts out._

Watching Arizona read the response prompt for the day, Callie suddenly became nervous that her ex was going to snap the pen in half. For a few seconds, Callie imagined blue ink running down Arizona's wrist and forearm. But then the blonde let out a little sigh, opened her notebook, and began scribbling, the first word across the page being her daughter's name.

* * *

Several weeks later, Callie was rushing through the school parking lot, thirty minutes into lunch, English paper, sippy cup, and stuffed bunny clutched with one arm, Mila clutched in her other. Mila, currently screaming her head off, dark curls sticking to her sweaty forehead, clutched at Callie's dark blue V-neck top, in a desperate attempt to get her mom to slow down and kiss her tears away. When Mila gave a rather harsh tug and Callie felt her shirt slide below her unfortunately bright purple bra, she sighed and stopped in the middle of the lot.

Tears welled up in her eyes, but Callie blinked them away before Mila caught site of any distress. "Mi, sweetheart, I know. I know you're confused and Mama yelled at you a little in the car. I know you don't want to be here, baby, but I need to turn this paper in if we want to move to Ohio soon and I need you to stop screaming for at least ten minutes so I can ju-"

"I really don't think Mila understands a word you're saying, but the crocodile tears have stopped so I'm guessing that's a plus?"

Callie chose to ignore how the tension in her shoulders immediately melted away at Arizona magically appearing behind her and interrupting her emotionally charged rant.

"I guess that was a secondary goal?"

The smile Arizona threw her way made blinking the remainder of her tears away easier. "A secondary goal?" Arizona whistled playfully. "She's already using that sophisticated, college level language," she teased, nudging Teddy, who Callie just realized was standing there, holding a Salad-Rama bag and raising an eyebrow at the situation.

Shaking her head, Callie tried to ignore the terrifying and depressing thoughts that plagued her mind as soon as Arizona said the word 'college' and forced a smile upon her face. Mila was no longer screaming like a wounded banshee and was instead, grinning that _utterly, completely, absolute thrilled_ grin Arizona's way.

"Zo!" she squeaked, squirming obnoxiously, fists opening and closing in an attempt to get to Arizona.

Callie glanced helplessly at her watch. "I...I only have…damn it, here." Handing over her daughter, she sighed and ran her now free right hand over her face. "I have to turn in my English paper. The last thing I want to do is rip the two of you away from each other, but I _have_ to turn this in, Zo."

"Zo!" Mila echoed, nuzzling into Arizona's neck and emitting the sweetest sigh Callie thought she'd ever heard.

Absolutely no part of her was confident that she could take Mila out of Arizona's arms right now. Not when the two had been separated for days longer than either was used to. Not when Mila was radiating happiness. Not when Arizona was flashing her a _real, true _smile, unlike the large majority of her smiles over the past few weeks. Definitely not when her heart was pounding against her ribcage.

"I've got study hall. Go turn in your paper. We'll hang out out here. T and I were going to eat lunch late anyway," Arizona explained, nodding toward the Salad-Rama bag and kissing Mila's cheek.

"You do not have study hall," Callie replied, before she could stop herself.

"Yes, we do," Arizona laughed. "It's Friday. No lab today, remember?"

"Oh."

Arizona kissed Mila's sweaty forehead, pushing back her curls and trying to soothe them all in the last few moments they had before Callie rushed inside to get her paper in on time. Glancing away from the child in her arms, Arizona took a second to survey Callie.

Her ex looked more exhausted than Arizona had ever seen her, and that included a two-week long stint during which first Mila, followed by Callie, and then Arizona came down with the flu. Brunette waves were sticking every which way, kind of like Callie had barely brushed her hair after waking up. While that look was endearing, it was very un-Calliope Torres-like, especially for school. Her face was flushed, pupils dilated, and lips puffy like she'd been chewing on them in an attempt to remain calm on her way to school.

After a final glance at Callie's feet, Arizona grimaced. Okay, so Callie was definitely feeling pretty haggard.

"Sweetheart, you have two different sandals on."

"What?" Callie squeaked, realizing in the back of her mind that Teddy had made herself sparse and began setting up her and Arizona's lunch at a picnic table a little ways away. "Oh my god. I am such an idiot."

"Here," Arizona offered, already slipping her feet out of her flip-flops and kicking them in front of Callie's feet. "You take these. Stop at my locker and grab my cleats for me? I'll just wear them for the rest of the day."

Callie started protesting, but Arizona tapped the watch on her wrist, and her frantic heart sped up times ten. Kicking her own shoes off, she slid her feet into Arizona's flip-flops, yelled a thanks, and jogged toward the school door.

"Alright then. Well, Mila girl, you're in luck. I got avocado on my salad."

Fifteen minutes later and Arizona and Teddy were a third of the way through their meal, Mila quietly snuggling in Arizona's lap and happily accepting the pieces of avocado Arizona was offering her.

"So explain to me again what's going to happen when Mama comes back out?"

Arizona aggressively stabbed her fork at the last piece of tomato in her salad bowl. She had been actively avoiding talking about this since she sat down next to Teddy after watching Callie flee into their high school. She hadn't even situated herself, let alone Mila, and Teddy had begun laughing. Arizona had promptly told her to hush and said she had a plan.

"I'm going to tell her she looks awful, take Mila for the day, and give her that certificate I have for a free massage at ReLacks."

"Beyond that just, uh, not working, Callie is definitely going to refuse that certificate."

"The Lacks bring those in like seven times a semester for the team. Callie knows that. It's not like I didn't get that for free."

"Regardless of how you got it and how many we get, Callie isn't going to take it. She knows how much you covet your massages." Teddy put the lid on her leftover salad, throwing the carton in the bag and rolling her eyes at her best friend. "Not to mention, Cal's not letting you miss practice the day before a playoff game."

"So I'll threaten to take the day off anyway."

"Or you can just have Mila this evening and everyone wins."

Arizona cringed at Callie's voice behind her. "Thanks a lot, T. A little warning would have been great."

"I only heard the tail end of that," Callie promised, leaning over to kiss Mila's cheek and causing Arizona to stiffen from the closeness. "Fill in the details for me?"

Keeping Mila tightly secured to her chest, Arizona slid down the bench and away from Callie. "Sorry," she mumbled at Callie's raised eyebrow. "You were a little close."

"Wow, alright. On that note, I'm gonna leave. This is too awkward for me to even enjoy." Standing up, Teddy nudged her salad container toward Callie. "I'm assuming you haven't eaten since this morning, so here. Maybe if you eat with her, she'll finish a meal. I swear, Arizona, if we lose tomorrow because you have no energy, I'm stuffing a protein packed piece of chicken down your throat."

"I'm so glad you're leaving," Arizona spat, punching Teddy in the arm as she passed. "Stop worrying about my eating habits," she added as an afterthought.

"Part of my job as best friend," Teddy yelled, already steps away from the pair.

After a few silent moments, Arizona's shoulders dropped and she turned toward Callie, sliding the remainder of her salad down the table. "Go on, ask. I can see you nearly combusting with the need to."

"I don't have to ask."

"Callie."

Callie groaned. "Are you really having trouble eating?"

"Actual thanks for not making that statement feel blaming. And yes, I'm having a lot of trouble. I have no appetite, like, ever. But you can seriously finish that. I ate almost all of it, mostly because Teddy's right and I don't want to let the team down."

After a quick glance toward the salad, Callie stabbed Arizona's used fork through a cucumber. "Thank you. I really don't want to eat Teddy's…combination she made. I'll talk to her about the stupid chicken comment if you want."

Arizona laughed and Callie nearly swooned.

"It's fine," she promised, with a wave of her free hand. "I know she's teasing. She hasn't let up about the vegetarian thing since I stopped eating meat, like, forever ago. Those kinds of jokes have turned into Teddy's way of checking in with me without making me feel like an infant that needs taken care of, so…it's fine."

Mila chose that moment to begin pulling at Arizona's hair, and Callie turned her attention to her food with a nod. After disentangling Mila's fingers and steering her attention toward her stuffed bunny, Arizona turned her own attention back to Callie. Her ex was practically devouring what was left of her lunch. Arizona felt her stomach roll for an entirely different reason than as of late. Callie was Mila's mom, and it was definitely Callie's choice and responsibility to have and keep Mila – but, Arizona had played a huge role in raising her while they were together. The depression she had spiraled into was exhausting and overwhelming, but she couldn't imagine how Callie was feeling. She went from functioning as an almost two-parent household with over the top supportive and helpful grandparents back to a single mother with barely present grandparents overnight.

Hugging Mila a little closer, Arizona forced her sigh away. Tired looked beautiful on Callie. Not that anything didn't. There was no way her therapist would let her, but Arizona could totally argue the benefits of putting 'looking at pictures of Calliope' on her safety plan under the section of ways to calm herself down and remind her of her worth. Not seeing that face ever again would definitely cause her to think twice about all the plans that sometimes just seemed to flow through her head without her control or permission.

Callie clearing her throat shook Arizona out of her head.

"Hm?" she hummed, dropping her cheek to rest against Mila's and fluttering content eyes toward Callie.

Callie swallowed and Arizona watched her throat bob. Putting all her effort into remaining composed, she pushed away the desire to bite and suck at Callie's throat the best she could. Still, she casually crossed her legs and tensed. Her appetite and sleep schedule were both fucked up, but she was still just as turned on anytime Callie so much as breathed. Stupid depression couldn't even cut her a little break with her libido.

"Did you hear me?"

"Huh?" Arizona mumbled, taking a deep breath and slowly puffing air out of oxygen filled chipmunk cheeks. "Oh. No. Sorry."

"Are you sure you are even up for taking Mila tonight? You seem just as exhausted," Callie pointed out, giving Arizona a quick once over and pretending she wasn't breaking an unspoken rule letting her eyes linger the way they did.

Arizona brushed her off with a wave of her hand, annoying Mila who shoved her bunny into Arizona's face and grunted.

"Mila," Callie gently reprimanded, trying not to laugh. "You better be nice to Zo."

At the sound of 'Zo,' Mila was immediately making fish lips to kiss her favorite human. "Hi, Zo," she announced, sticking her face into Arizona's neck and shaking her head back and forth. "Zo, stay. Please."

Mila was very convincing, but Arizona knew she couldn't skip any more classes. "I'm not tired. Just zoned out for a minute. But anyway, my original plan was to tell you you looked like crap, take the peanut, and force you to go get a massage. I have a leftover certificate from the Lacks."

"No, no, and no."

"Calliope, come on."

Both teens tensed at Callie's full name.

"I appreciate you, I do, but can we please compromise?"

"Okay, so I finish school and then I take her."

"No, Arizona. That's not a compromise. No missing soccer."

"Yes, it is!"

Before their argument could become heated, Callie shook her head and relaxed her shoulders. "This is part of the reason I broke up with you."

"That still makes no sense to me. And it's still unfair."

"Wait, I thought you said you understood better after we talked?"

Letting Mila climb onto the table, one hand hooked through her belt loop for safety, Arizona gave Callie the side-eye. "I do. Kind of. I mean, I think your feelings are valid and all. And it makes sense, I guess. I just don't agree with you. I still think whether or not I want to be part of you and Mila's family should be up to me, since the only reason you are unwilling to let me is because you think you're ruining my life. Which, for the umpteenth time, you really aren't. I've dreamed about kids since I was a kid. And I can do the long distance. My parents have a ton of frequent flyer miles and I could visit all the time! I mean, breaks, holidays, weekends. Plus, I _like_ Ohio's programs. I wouldn't mind going there, too. And they have a kick-ass soccer team."

"No, see, that's the problem. You aren't going to make it on any college soccer team if you are coming to see me over breaks, holidays, and weekends and missing soccer. The first suggestion out of your mouth when we discussed this the first time was that you could take the summer off to stay with us in Ohio. Arizona, do you realize what that would do to your soccer career? No. Absolutely not."

"Okay, but see, unfair again," Arizona protested, grabbing onto Mila more securely when the toddler began reaching across the table for a leaf. "Here," she mumbled, grabbing a closer leaf and making sure it didn't immediately end up in Mila's mouth. "Calliope, why is it so bad if my priorities change? I love you and Mila so much more than I could ever love soccer. You're what I want. Why don't you believe me?"

Sliding down the bench at the desperation in Arizona's voice, Callie came close enough to rest her right thigh against Arizona's left. She briefly smiled at Mila, who grinned her way and began babbling about the leaf. After a quick exchange, she turned her attention back to Arizona, who she caught biting her lip and smiling fondly at the two of them, heart eyes all over the place. Shit.

"Listen, Zo. I do believe you, honest. I know how much you love us. Anyone can see that." Arizona tried interrupting, but Callie beat her to it and continued. "But we talked about this. If Mila didn't exist, you'd still be prioritizing soccer over any serious relationship, right?"

"Well, technically yes, but that's only because I wouldn't have met you. I'm not in this just for Mila. You're my…" Arizona trailed off. Pulling the now shredded leaf from Mila's hands, she brushed noses with the toddler. "Alright, monkey. Class is calling. I will see you at 5 pm sharp. Think about what you want to do while Mama gets her massage." Rolling her eyes, Callie forced herself to let the conversation go. She knew they were avoiding, but she also knew that she wasn't going to get back together with Arizona. If they wanted to seriously try out this friends thing, something had to give and this could potentially be the start of that give. And, really, for as much as Callie was preaching lately, she couldn't make Arizona late to class. Nor could she really be annoyed when Arizona had one-sided conversations with Mila like she was a teenager.

"I just realized you said I look like crap," she muttered, watching Arizona stand up and spin Mila in a few circles, causing giggles to pour out of her daughter. The hardest part about not being with Arizona anymore was grieving the life she couldn't help but picture for herself whenever she watched Arizona and Mila together. "I mean, besides the two different shoes thing."

With a final hug to Mila, Arizona passed her off. Eyes rolled as she fumbled into her cleats. "Coach is gonna kill me for wearing these all day because they're basically brand new and the linoleum will probably screw them up. I'm telling him my flip flops broke, if he asks."

"Yes, because Coach Hunt is going to ask me about your shoes."

"I don't think he knows we broke up…"

"One, yes he does. Two, he still wouldn't ask me, goof. Three, please take your shoes back. I really don't want to be responsible for buying you a new pair and I'm going to go home anyway. She definitely can't go back to daycare with the morning she had and I'm too tired to function in a classroom."

Knotting her laces, Arizona stood and shrugged. "They're on now. Do you want me to grab her at 5 or are you going to drop her off on your way?"

"I can drop her."

"Perfect. I'll give you the certificate then." Arizona sloppily kissed Mila's cheek and gathered her belongings and their trash. "Oh and Calliope? You couldn't ever actually look like crap. I just have a free massage and you look like you could use it. And I want to see Mila so…"

"Thank you." The two shared a soft smile. "Now please get to class before you end up in detention."

"Right. Bye, baby!" Arizona called, waving at Mila as she jogged backward into the school building.

* * *

"Yo, Robbins, get some chill!"

Teddy snorted at their teammate's yell. Looking toward the commotion, she realized her best friend was walking out of the shower, dressed only in a pair of underwear, running her towel through her hair.

"Nice rack," someone else yelled, and Teddy lost it.

"Shut the fuck up, you guys," Arizona joked playfully, ignoring everyone's smiles in reaction to a slightly more upbeat Arizona. "You all wish you could get with this."

"Leah does," Teddy mumbled for only the two of them to hear when Arizona reached around her to borrow her deodorant. "Why are you out of the shower this quickly anyway? Did you and Callie get back together or am I experiencing déjà vu?"

"Don't you think I'd tell you if we got back together?"

"Well, probably. On second thought though, you'd be having sex right now so we couldn't be having this conversation."

Arizona rolled her eyes at Teddy's wiggling eyebrows. "Yes, because Calliope and I had so much sex when we were together. Sexathons. All day, everyday in between school, soccer, feedings, changings, temper tantrums, and Bubble Guppies. Oh wait, no, I'm a virgin."

"Damn, who took the piss _out_ of your Cheerios? You got funny again."

Shrugging, Arizona replaced the lid on the deodorant and tossed it to Teddy, smirking when her best friend missed the catch. "Eyes up here," she teased, pointing from her chest to her face.

"Yes, I missed that because I had eagle eyes on your boobs. You've never been more right."

A chuckle escaped Arizona at the blatant sarcasm. "Can I borrow your brush please? You have all your stuff out and I just want to be quick."

"If you put some clothes on and tell me why you're rushing out of here like a bat out of hell."

"I never really understood that expression," Arizona began, ignoring Teddy's first request. "_But_, I'm watching Mila tonight and I told Callie 5 pm sharp."

Glancing at her watching, Teddy pursed her lips. "Practice let out fifteen minutes ago. It's literally 4:15 and you stayed after to collect balls. Think you can relax a little."

Snagging more of her hair than she was detangling, Arizona yelped. "Yes, I know. But I need to run by ReLacks and buy a free massage certificate on my way home. So, rushing."

Teddy watched Arizona finally pull the brush through her blonde locks without resistance. Her best friend threw the brush into Teddy's bag and glanced in the mirror, grabbing Teddy's eyeliner and mascara sitting on the counter and swiping light makeup on her face. Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out the first sports bra she found and threw it over her head. Finding her favorite gray leggings, she hopped into those, too.

"Pink or blue?" she asked, pulling out identical Old Navy t-shirts and quirking an eyebrow in Teddy's direction.

"Blue. Matches your eyes…and your obnoxious bra."

Slipping the shirt over her head, Arizona stuffed the pink one back in her locker and slammed it shut. "Okay…phone, wallet, car keys, water bottle, check. See you bright and early for the game tomorrow?"

"Wait," Teddy called, grabbing onto Arizona's hand when she tried to pass by. "You're going to ReLacks to get Callie a massage certificate? I thought you had one."

"Please. We got the last one right before the state championship game, which just so happened to be the same week I told my parents I wanted to kill myself. I needed that massage."

"Right…" Trailing off, Teddy let go of Arizona's wrist. "Are you sure this is a good idea? Buying Callie that?"

"She doesn't need to know." The nonchalance with which Arizona explained the situation irked Teddy, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly why, other than the nagging feeling that Arizona was going to continue spiraling out of control.

"Take mine. I still have it." Reaching for her own wallet, Teddy quickly found the card and handed it over. "Please? Consider it my late birthday present to your ex."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I'd probably have given it to you anyway. You need it a lot more than I do right now."

"Thanks, T. See you tomorrow?"

"Of course. Love you."

Arizona yelled a quick love you back and was out of the locker room door before Teddy could finish blinking.

* * *

After turning onto Arizona's street, Callie turned the music down. She chanced a quick glance to the car seat behind her and smiled when she saw Mila's eyes crinkle at her in the rear view mirror. Her daughter was dancing along to some playlist Arizona made her a few months ago, loaded with what had to be some of the most annoying songs ever produced. She began reminiscing about when both Arizona and Mila were in her car, singing (babbling mostly, in Mila's case) and dancing along to Let it Go, over and over and over again. Smiling to herself, she slowed down for a stop sign. Glancing to her left and right, she waited until it was clear and took her foot off the break, crawling toward Arizona's home.

It wasn't that she was trying to avoid arriving at Arizona's. It was just that it'd been a long time since she'd made this drive, especially given that she used to do it nearly every single day at least once, minimum. She missed the houses that had become familiar, the kids she recognized playing outside, and the old men in love who consistently watered their garden around this time everyday. Arizona and her used to gush over how cute they were and fight over if they'd be cuter at that age.

Sighing wistfully, Callie flipped her turn signal on to pull into Arizona's governor's style driveway. Daniel must have just arrived home. He waved when he realized who just pulled up.

After parking, Callie slid out of the driver's seat, opened the back door on her side, and lifted Mila out of her car seat. Instinctively, she reached out for Mila's bag, but let her hand clutch around air remembering where she was dropping the toddler off. Arizona had one of everything for Mila. Checking to make sure Mila had her stuffed bunny and drink, Callie slammed the door shut with her hip and waited for Daniel to walk up the sidewalk from checking the mail.

"Hey, kiddo!" he greeted, kissing Mila. "And hey, kiddo." Pulling Callie into a hug, he dropped a similar kiss onto her head and left his arm around her as they walked the rest of the way to the door. "Didn't know you two were stopping by tonight."

"Us either," Callie explained, letting Daniel take Mila from her arms when her daughter reached out and called for Pop. "Your daughter somehow convinced me to go get a massage?"

"Was that a statement or a question?" Daniel asked, chuckling.

"Both, I think."

"Well, you know we're always up for some Mila time, right Mi?"

Daniel turned his attention to the girl in his arms, holding the door open for Callie to follow him into the house.

"Arizona!" Barbara called as she walked into the foyer, leaning on her tiptoes to kiss her husband and tickle at Mila's tummy. "Hi, munchkin."

"Hi, Gam!"

Hearing Arizona's footsteps suddenly halt on the staircase, Callie glanced up quickly enough to watch her try to mask a face of dread. Deciding to put her ex out of her misery quicker than she fell into it, she winked and motioned for Arizona to continue downstairs. "Pop and Gramma already stole you, huh Mi? Zo's gonna have to wait."

Like clockwork, at the sound of Arizona's name, Mila craned her neck around Daniel and frantically searched for Arizona. "Zo!" she shrieked, eyes lighting up and hands clenching, reaching out to be passed off. "Zo 'gain, Mama!"

Laughing, Callie nodded dramatically. "Yes, you get to see Zo again today. I told you, you get to spend the whole night with her."

"Paint, please," Mila requested, finally done squealing as she settled in Arizona's arms. "Please, Zo? 'ello."

"Of course we can paint. And _of course _I have yellow," she promised, watching Mila's recognition at the words she knew. Callie had said she was turning into a walking dictionary weeks ago, but Arizona hadn't spent too much substantial time with her and she was bugging out a little. Who was this toddler and what had she done with the baby she knew so well. Her heart swelled three times its size and she laughed at her internal Grinch dialogue. Okay, so maybe she watched too many kids' movies.

Mila, invested in painting and painting only now, was wiggling in Arizona's arms to be let down.

"Go on," Arizona allowed, setting her gently on her still learning feet and watching her toddle off to the kitchen. "Mom, can you key an eye on her for a second?"

Barbara nodded, Daniel disappeared upstairs to change, and Arizona stared at Callie, words stuck in her throat.

"I can, uh, discourage the whole Pop and Gramma thing. That was kind of my fault to begin with and I didn't think she'd really keep it up, especially since she hasn't spent much time here. I know that's something that probably added to you feeling uncomfortable."

Shaking her head, Callie handed over Mila's bunny and drink. "No. You'll always be her Zo, regardless of if we're dating. Your parents are important to her and if they want to stay Pop and Gramma, I'd be honored for them to do so. And it wasn't your fault. She started the Pop thing out of nowhere. I blame daycare."

"You can't blame daycare for everything," Arizona admonished, laughing.

"Okay, fine, I'll start blaming you for everything from now on."

Callie knew blue eyes would roll before they even started to. She watched Arizona's waves tumble back and forth as the blonde shook her head, laughing. Suddenly feeling stuffy and hot, Callie took a step back.

"So I'll get her in a couple of hours? Seven okay? I know you have to be on the field early tomorrow."

"What? Seven? No way. We haven't even started painting and I got the mini dino cookie cutters out to make her tofu into cool shapes. Unless you want to join us for dinner. I can give her a snack to hold her over."

"Oh." Callie's stomach flipped with butterflies and she remembered why she finally gave into Arizona months and months ago and agreed to a first date. She kept grinning because Arizona was going to go through the trouble of making dinosaur shaped tofu rather than just heating up some precut nuggets. "Thank you, but no. Spend time with your girl. How's 8:30? You can get her ready for bed and I'll just do a quick transfer after she's out."

A blush quickly covered Arizona's cheeks and the ground became the most interesting piece of art she'd ever seen.

"Spit it out," Callie teased, only slightly enjoying watching her ex squirm. "What?"

"Can she just stay overnight?"

Callie opened her mouth to answer, but Arizona began rambling.

"I know I have a game tomorrow and I know you said I could spend the _evening_ with her, but it's been a while since I woke up to her. And, well, you know how good that makes a morning. I'll be fine for my game, honest! I can probably even get to sleep earlier, being more on Mila's schedule. Oh and I won't ask again for at least a month. I know she's yours. But…she's a great good luck charm and if we lose tomorrow, all our work so far in regional playoffs has been a waste."

"Yes."

"And I want you to see me win another nationals before you leave becau-what did you say?"

Callie chuckled. "Yes, of course you can have her overnight. Next time, you can just ask, ya know? Although, I appreciate the thought you put into doing so."

"Wait, what? I have like seven more points stored," Arizona asked, confused, and pointed to her forehead to signify her metaphorical list of arguments.

"You don't need points."

"But-"

"I know, I know. I hate leaving her with people, especially overnight. But you aren't people. The sleeping in will be really refreshing and I know she's missing you like crazy. It'll be good for all of us. I know I said you can have her whenever you want, but I guess I should be more clear. Why don't we set up a few sleepovers? That way you won't feel so pressured asking, she'll definitely get some serious Zo time in before we leave, and I can plan my big essays and study sessions around the nights you have her. Would that work?"

Stunned, Arizona simply nodded. "Uh huh," she finally agreed, the astonishment slowly fading from her features. "And I'll tell you if I'm having a particularly bad few days because…"

"Right. I'd appreciate that. Not that I don't tru-"

"Trust me, I know. But it's still not a good idea for me to be responsible for your toddler if I can't get ideas of hurting myself out of my head. And I need to be open about that, not just for Mila, but so I can keep getting the help I need."

The two shared a smile and both secretly delighted in the decreased awkwardness of their interaction.

"Alright. So I guess I'll grab her from the game tomorrow? She loves watching you play and CJ, Aria, and I were going to get there a little early to get good seats anyway. Would Coach Hunt mind if she stuck by the sidelines for about forty minutes until we got there?"

Waving her off, Arizona grinned. "No. He _loves _Mila. And Amelia will probably be there, so she can keep an eye on her just in case. I'll just make sure Bunny and food are readily available and text you if she's feeling fussy. Thanks, Calliope. For letting me have Mila and for coming to my game tomorrow."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

Plastering a fake smile to her face, Arizona nodded. Right. They were friends.

"Zo!"

"That's your cue," Callie whispered. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow. Goodnight, Callie." Arizona handed Callie the massage certificate and walked her to the door. Making sure she got out of the driveway okay, Arizona relaxed against her entrance. So maybe being friends wouldn't be _as bad_ as she thought, but it didn't exactly feel _good _either.

Hearing Mila call for her a few more times, she backed away from and closed the door, flipping the lock in place.

"Coming," she called, knowing if one thing could keep her positive spirits up it was Mila.


End file.
